


My Mother

by Pikablukachu



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Character Development, Drama, Family, Gen, Worldbuilding, a weird and unique take on Reimu's family? you got it, an incident!?, casually brings pc98 stuff into modern Touhou's worldbuilding sensibilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 49,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikablukachu/pseuds/Pikablukachu
Summary: Reimu's been having nightmares. The same recurring dream, ever since the last incident.At first it was every other week, then every other night.The same voice, calling out her name over and over.And the same, unknown, but hauntingly familiar smile.... Why can't she remember her smile?Why can't she remember her face?
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), background MariAli and others
Comments: 46
Kudos: 116





	1. unus

**Author's Note:**

> -Special Thanks-  
> I want to give special shout-outs to @s_reimun and @StarWarrior776 on Twitter, for all their extremely generous and reliable help with beta-reading and proofreading.
> 
> It's thanks to them, that I can be even more proud of what's easily one of my strongest works yet.

A lone, imposing silhouette, cutting through an endless vista of blue and white. 

Those hills of rich sapphire seemed to roll for miles and miles in every direction, even into the clear sky. The deep blue grass shimmered in the brilliant turquoise light of the sun, tickled by a soft, inspiriting wind. 

Down the valley, amidst the sheer white of crumbling pillars and walls, ruined steps, empty plazas and squares, the silhouette’s presence was remarkable. 

A single, surviving building. 

It was a massive, grand thing, not unlike a great castle. Tall windows, ancient sculptures adorning the sides and spires. Ornate carvings filled winding passages, crosses and altars decorated its monumental halls. 

One might be forgiven for thinking this huge slab of architectural artistry was in a sorry state. Could it really be called a building at all, sunk halfway into a fissure, tottering on its side like that? A piece of art it certainly still was though, that much was unarguable. Even now, hints of a golden glow shone brilliantly through its tired, dulled brown exterior. 

And life still spilled from the fissure. Gaps in the chasm - that the construction was so lazily, spectacularly sunken into - were bursting with deep grass and purple plants vying energetically for air and sunlight. 

There, along the bank of that sunken hill, was a balcony and window so grand that it could be used as an entrance. Panes swung open, letting a wonderful breeze roll inside. 

It was at this idyllic scene that a pair of women sat together on a blanket. 

There was surely no one else around for miles. Such an eerie, alien place, one might wonder if anything even _could_ live here, save for the overgrown plant-life. Yet this hill, curiously, seemed to enjoy the wonderful warm sun throughout the entirety of the day. Of course the two women had picked this most cherished of spots for a picnic. 

A black-haired woman, clad in red and white, took in her surroundings with a quietly reflective awe. Her mouth hung open in a muted smile. Appreciation, yet apprehension. 

She took in the trickling streams that sparkled green in the sunlight. These streams tumbled down tiered gradation-like hills, briefly pooling in a shimmering lake towards the bottom of the valley. 

A square of brilliant white marble had half-sunk into the lake. Kept so clean by the fresh run of water, the word ‘forum’ was still visible on a slab of rock to one side. This plaza would surely be completely obscured if the lake kept on filling, but instead water kept on tumbling through, filtered through the earth before falling endlessly into the abyss below. 

"I really don't think I'll ever get tired of this entrancing view," said the black-haired woman, turning a grateful smile towards her blue and white-clad companion. 

Her hazel gaze was met by deep, grape-coloured eyes of the woman sat with her. Hair so light-blue that it shone white in the sun, so long that it completely blanketed her back and flowed onto the ground around her. The tips of her hair were so fine, so iridescent, that it didn’t seem like hair at all. And there was a pause. 

"Don't look at me like that," the white-haired woman finally responded. She tried to smile, but her gaze showed a telltale twitch of anxiety. "It's never good news when you look at me like that." 

"You know me so well..." the black-haired woman let out a stiff chuckle. "Just how closely do you watch me, anyway?" 

"So it _is_ bad news." 

The white-haired woman’s heart begun to thump uncomfortably quickly as the words left her lips. The tips of her cloak of hair bristled and trembled under the wind. 

"You’re going to have to listen either way,” said the black-haired woman. “Please, be patient with me?" 

The white-haired woman took a deep, shaky breath, and said, "All right." While she tried to calm herself though, unease had already taken root. 

She stared intently at her companion, whose hazel eyes instead drifted to the sky once again. Daydreaming, or deep in thought, the white-haired woman assumed. She always _had_ been one to avoid directly facing difficult issues. But... perhaps that was true of the both of them. 

"It's... I think it's going to happen soon,” the red-white said, keeping her eyes fixed stiffly on the sky. “Sooner than I hoped. And I don’t think I-… well, I’m... afraid I won't be able to keep my promise.” 

… Just like that? Of course. Of course she’d drop something just like that out of nowhere. The blue-white woman's stomach lurched. She was worried about this. She _had been_ worried about this. Shivers bubbled up in her stomach, and her legs involuntarily moved to get up in restlessness. 

For now though, she resisted the urge to stand. She made herself remain sat. She _clung_ to her composure. 

"Then you're just leaving," she said.

"I'm really sorry," the black-haired woman continued. "I just don’t know how to break this easily. For now, I just want my daughter to have as normal a childhood as possible. She's going to need her mother-" 

"No," the white-haired woman said. "No! That's not _fair_! This is too sudden!” she shouted, flinging an arm to her side. Against her better judgement, her composure crumbled and she rose to a stand. She glared at the red-white. Her fist quietly trembled. 

Through grit teeth, she muttered; “Wh-what about _me_?” The tips of her hairs started to shudder and tremble and flutter furiously, bristling like animal spines along her back. “I’m... I’m still-…" 

The black-haired woman looked up at her with a weak, wistful smile. What could she even do or say in this situation? Her own heart was racing too. 

"We both knew this was coming... I know we wanted to believe it would last longer,” words escaped the red-white's mouth between gulps. “And I wish so, so badly that I could keep my promise, I really do, but I-" She tried to continue, the lids of her eyes blinking with damp. 

"Y-you can't just do this to me--!" the white-haired woman's voice continued to rise. Her lip trembling and bitten. Her grape-coloured eyes seemingly aflame with red. "Y-you! You!! You promised your life was _mine_ ! You don't _get_ to do this!!"

The hazel eyes of the red-white shrine maiden stared with resigned sorrow, into the bloodshot glare of the blue and white-clad woman stood over her. 

And the tips of the angel's mane brimmed with fury, revealing most of her ‘hair’ to have been a cloak of six, great white wings. Towering over her companion, the blue-white angel cut an imposing silhouette in the middle of the vista. 

Tired, yet overcome with fear of reality, fear of the future, the red-white finally resolved to keep her eyes fixed on those of her companion's. 

Even as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Even as her mouth trembled to speak. 

"That's one promise I still intend to keep," the red-white said. “No matter what happens.   
"My life _is_ yours. It always will be.  
“Now, until the moment I die." 


	2. I - Found Family

_‘_ _ReiRei_ _._ _’_

Reimu absently shook her head.

_‘I_ _seee_ _yooou_ _ReiRei_ _!’_

“Ahh shut it,” Reimu grumbled. 

"Uh?" her companion raised an eyebrow. “You good there buddy?” 

Reimu shook her head again, finally remembering where she was. "Believe not they will be around for you always: parents and daylight,” she recited, sagely wagging a finger. 

"So you keep sayin' lately."

"I have?” Reimu said, tilting and scratching her head. “Eh. It’s a good saying."

"Sure," Marisa muttered through her teeth, "but now maybe _ain't_ the best time."

Marisa subtly jerked her head to the side, gesturing towards the child that Reimu and Marisa had found crying his eyes out in the sun-cast shadow of a village well. The child was now staring at Reimu with furious nods of vindication.

Ah, oh dear. 

"I-I knew you'd see it my way, Miss Hakurei!" the kid nodded again through his red, tear-soaked face. "So tell my dumb dad that I wanna go hunt youkai, too!" 

Marisa crossed her arms expectantly at Reimu. Reimu sighed. 

She had to give in. Reimu waved her hands gently to calm the boy down, "H-hang on now kid. Your dad's got a point too. He's just worried about you and wants you to get bigger and stronger before you do anything dangerous." 

"B-but I- you sai-" the young boy moped. He balled his fists, he blinked puppy dog eyes. 

"Both you an' your pop have got points, right?” Marisa interrupted, plopping a comforting hand on his head. “Try'na see where each other's comin' from... That's how ya resolve disagreements, an' keep a family strong." 

"When it _can_ be resolved," Reimu added, smirking knowingly at Marisa. 

Forcing herself to ignore Reimu, Marisa gently eased the kid to his feet and steered him back in the direction of his house. "So let's see if we can't go smooth things over with your pop, aight?" 

"... Mmmmph," the boy mumbled, rubbing some tears from his eyes. 

“Aight?” Marisa repeated with an understanding smile.

"O-okay...” he finally huffed. “But I want a real youkai hunter to come with me."

"We'll be right behind ya," Marisa said, giving him a gentle shove. "You go first, show yer pop _you_ got the grit and resolve to settle this." 

The boy bit his angry, trembling lip and took a deep breath... then gave Marisa and Reimu a steadfast nod. Atta boy. As Marisa suggested, he turned and started stiffly marching back home, with Marisa and Reimu quietly following behind at a comfortable distance as promised. 

"What was _that_?" Marisa quipped, elbowing Reimu's stomach. "I'm not gonna take out my bitterness over my own family situation on some kid. Get it together, Reimu." 

With a quiet pout, Reimu hung behind Marisa slightly. She stared at the dirt path and idly rubbed the side of her stomach. Her pout scrunched in thought about what Marisa had said, before she eventually sighed and awkwardly rubbed the side of her head in defeat.

"Okay. Yeah, you're right," Reimu replied. "No matter what we went through with our families, conflict resolution is still our speciality huh." 

Marisa threw an arm over Reimu's shoulder and roughhoused her upper-arm a little. "It's just a li'l spat anyways, stop takin' it so seriously!" 

"I'm Gensokyo's most prolific youkai-hunter!" Reimu said, sticking her nose up with a little more of a spring in her step. "I've gotta make a serious impression for kids who might look up to me!" 

Reimu pulled away from Marisa's arm and stomped after the kid, almost mirroring his own 'confident' marching. Marisa shrugged a sigh and shook her head, before following after her. 

Okay, so it wasn't the 'conflict resolution' the duo was used to. Helping a 'kid who wanted to be a youkai hunter someday’ to make up with his dad probably hardly even counted as a youkai extermination job. 

Well... this one would probably be on the house. 

Reimu didn't have a problem with easy jobs, but she wouldn't go so low that she'd ask a kid for money for something like this. 

No, this was just the sort of thing that tended to follow the resolutions of big incidents, especially one as huge as the Animal Spirit Incident that had occurred over the summer. Youkai would calm down, nature would behave itself, Gensokyo would enter a lulled, relaxed state and pretty much nothing interesting would happen for at least a few months. 

Thus, the extent of the 'incidents' for incident-resolver extraordinaires like Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame to tackle would amount to this; helping people, both human and youkai, with various odd-ends and errands. The occasional suspicious observation from a village on-edge. That was about it. 

It wasn't anything exciting, but it was a habit Reimu had learned to appreciate. It was supposed to keep her motivation from completely flatlining in those quiet periods after major incidents, after all. And it worked. Reimu hadn’t been particularly unmotivated lately. 

Then again, this only made Reimu's recent behaviour seem even _weirder_. 

That evening, after helping the boy make up with his father, Reimu was quick to start quietly marching home down the dusty path out of the village. But Marisa, who could _tell_ that Reimu was far more on-edge than usual, assertively grabbed at the back of Reimu's robes before she could get too far. 

"I need a coffee," Marisa said. "Wanna come?" 

"I don't drink coffee," Reimu replied. Still, Marisa had succeeded in stopping her march. 

Marisa grinned, tugging Reimu in the direction of the Forest of Magic, "Duh, so you'll have tea." 

Reimu accepted without objection, of course. 

Besides, Marisa dragged her around all the time and Reimu was usually grateful to not be alone, so Reimu hadn't suspected a single thing out of the ordinary about the offer. Not even the fact that Marisa had 'invited' her to Alice Margatroid's cottage instead of her own house was a surprise to Reimu. 

By now, even Alice greeted the duo with a familiar resigned acceptance when she opened the door. "I'll have the dolls get the coffee machine out," she said the moment Marisa’s huge hat entered her sight. "Boots off, please," she followed up as she turned towards the kitchen. 

Marisa stepped through and gave Alice a peck on the cheek, before dragging Reimu inside and shutting the door behind them. 

Alice, too, knew by now that Reimu commonly accompanied Marisa's random self-invitations during these quiet periods. The years had also transformed Alice's quiet resentment for uninvited company into an amused fondness. This was definitely helped by the fact that she and Marisa had been dating for... wow, over six years now? 

So nowadays Alice would happily bring out the same refreshments for the three of them; strong-smelling coffee for her girlfriend and matching cups of black tea for herself and Reimu, accompanied by a steady flow of freshly-baked cookies snuggled in an adorably-woven basket. 

The scent of Marisa's coffee would almost always completely overwhelm the delicate sweetness of Reimu's tea though. Which Alice felt was a terrible shame. 

The difference didn't matter much to Reimu though. Reimu may not have loved Alice's western-style milk-tea quite like she loved matcha, but... Alice's warm living-room and comfortable couches combined with the faintly flowery taste of the tea certainly always worked wonders at making Reimu feel at ease. 

Alice just had this really... caring, reassuring aura about her. Before Reimu knew it, she was unwinding, at the same time realising that she had been wound up. All day. 

_Again_. 

"So, Reimu," Marisa said out of nowhere. She crossed one leg over the other, hugging a couch cushion into her stomach with one arm while her other hand leisurely held her steaming coffee cup. 

"Tell us what's up." 

Assertiveness when it came to Reimu was one of Marisa's strong points. 

Alice rolled her eyes at Marisa, "You brought Reimu here because you wanted me to play therapist for her?" 

"Friend, we're playin' friend," Marisa corrected her. "So, Reimu?" 

Reimu raised an eyebrow at Marisa and said "I'm fine.” But the bitter aftertaste of her words lingered on her tongue, much more strongly than the gentle tea she sipped at. 

And she couldn't help but giggle in another quiet realisation. Pretty much no one could read Reimu quite like Marisa could after all - and that sometimes included Reimu herself.

"C'mon," Marisa pushed a little harder. "What was that in the village earlier? You were weirdly jittery."

Alice was about to object again, but after another glance at Reimu’s face instead bit her tongue. Marisa was right, Reimu's physical anxiety was palpable. 

"It's nothing important," a deflective white-lie, "and I'm sure Alice has better things to do than listening to me airing my dirty laundry." 

_'Oh no you don't.’_ Marisa and Alice both gave Reimu the exact same squinted-look at the exact same time. Marisa and Alice then exchanged knowing glances, and Marisa flumped back into the couch. Alice was now on-side. 

"Right, well if Reimu doesn't wanna talk, I still do," Marisa said with a pout. "Alice, you ever think about how we all have really damn weird families?" 

Reimu subconsciously winced.

"I shall thank you not to compare my mother to your difficult father," Alice replied, eyes scrunched in annoyance. Still confused, but willing to play along, Alice sighed and earnestly looked back at Marisa. "But yes, I suppose I cannot deny our families are 'strange' in their own ways." 

"Right," Marisa nodded, quietly grateful for Alice's cooperation. "My dad's an asshole I haven't spoken to in over a decade, and your mom's a god who created Makai." 

"Apples and oranges, but yes, sure," Alice nodded exasperatedly. Trying to read the direction of the topic, she went on, "Though I must admit, I don't think I know a single thing about Reimu's family. You said 'we all' have weird families, and I'm assuming you don't mean in the ‘found-family’ sense." 

'Found-family' - that was a phrase that undeniably warmed the mood in the room. While Alice's relationship with her mother was perfectly fine, even she couldn't help but smile at the mutual feeling that all three of them had found new family here in Gensokyo over the years, in one-another, in other friends. 

"I mean, I don't know much about Reimu's family either," Marisa looked at Reimu, her gaze expecting and egging something out of her. "‘Weird’ is Just an impression I've gotten from you over the years I guess Reimu?"

By now, Reimu knew what Marisa was doing. And it was working, of course. Reimu's awareness that something was wrong with her had been building ever since she said 'I'm fine', but at least Marisa's topic had made things a little smoother to talk about. 

Anxious, Reimu set her teacup down on its saucer with a stiff clink. She pulled her hands back and rested them on her knees, staring down at them. Then, she sighed... and finally spoke. 

"Marisa, do you remember my mother?" 

' _Yes...!_ ' Marisa and Alice's eyes both widened - their little discussion had been a complete success. 

Quickly collecting herself, Marisa responded sensitively, "Never met her actually. You were already alone when we first met." 

"That's what I thought, but it's been so long since I talked about her that I-" Reimu's eyelids lidded heavily as she replied. "Sometimes I can't fully remember the order of stuff from my childhood, you know? When she disappeared, when I met Mima and you. I guess it's not important." 

Marisa and Alice both stared at Reimu, a genuine concern falling across their expressions. 

"It's important," Alice said through a soft, understanding smile. "What do you remember about her? Want to talk about it at all?" 

"I-... dunno..." Reimu's eyes struggled, hesitant to open up. "I only remember that she was really, really doting. 

“I... remember she was always calling my name. Heh... she had this really childish nickname for me, even when she was using it to tease me with it she always said it with this amazing smile. We played so many great games together at the shrine too, like hide and seek, or we’d even turn our training into a game." 

Without realising it, Reimu's mouth had softened into a wistful smile as she spoke, one hand nervously covering her other balled fist.

Marisa and Alice couldn’t help but smile as they watched her, Alice subconsciously holding a hand to her chest. 

But Reimu’s expression sunk again. "Then one day, she just never came home from an incident, and I was officially made Hakurei Shrine Maiden pretty much immediately,” she said, her posture slouching over her fist slightly. “Now I can barely even remember her face anymore, and I hate it." 

And Reimu abruptly stopped talking, briefly lowering a difficult silence onto the mood of the room. 

"Hey," Marisa said, quickly returning to her original angle, "is this why you've been repeating that 'parents and daylight’ thing way more often lately?" 

"Really?” Reimu asked. "Haven't I always said that?" 

Marisa crossed her arms, tilting her head inquisitively at Reimu, "Yeah but hardly ever. Last few months you've been saying it at least once a week, an' I only just noticed today." 

"To be honest," Alice interjected, "I've only ever heard you saying it over the past few months, I didn't even realise it was a 'thing' you said until now." 

Reimu continued to stare quietly at her knees with a frown. Her eyebrows slowly scowled in confusion, then further realisation. Marisa and Alice continued to watch her in curious concern, but noticed each other and self-consciously backed away. 

"Sorry," Reimu said. "For some reason I'm just... thinking about my childhood recently, and I can’t stop thinking about how I barely remember a single thing about her besides that stuff. Not her voice, not her face... nothing." 

Marisa and Alice's expressions softened sadly. One of Alice's dolls fluttered over to Reimu's side, and held Reimu's hand comfortingly in its own cute little wooden hands. Alice had honestly wanted to just... go over and give Reimu a big hug, but felt this would be less invasive. 

Reimu seemed to appreciate the gesture, grinning at the little doll, then beaming at Alice and Marisa. "I'm sure I'll be okay though," she said. "I've got a way better family nowadays, right? Who needs parents?" 

Marisa hugged up to Reimu's side. "Yeaah?" she giggled awkwardly. "But it's okay to process this stuff too. Good, even! We're here for ya, we can even ask around the village for people who knew her. It might help you come t' terms with some old childhood crap." 

"Nah," Reimu candidly hugged Marisa back, and gave Alice's doll a fond pat on the head. "Finally noticing I was thinking about it at all has already helped a lot, so I'm sure I'll be over this in no time. 

“Thank you, guys." 

Finally, the heavy mood in the room lifted a little. Marisa and Alice sighed quietly in relief, smiling warmly at Reimu, before exchanging playful and affectionate grins of ' _good job_ _, you_ '. 

"Besides!" Reimu stood herself up and stretched with a grunt and a grin, "That post-incident low's gotta be coming to an end any day now. I'll be feeling more like myself again before the trees turn, easy." 

"That's the spirit," said Alice. She gently shut her eyes as she rose from her chair herself. "Just remember, you're always welcome here if you'd like a cup of tea with warm company."

"Does that mean I'm allowed round for coffee any time I want too!?" Marisa playfully jumped into Alice for a hug. 

Alice shoved Marisa so gently that she may as well have been hugging Marisa back. " _You've_ never needed an invitation, troublemaker." 

"That's a compliment, right?" Marisa said.

Alice sighed against Marisa, giving her a fond squeeze and a mischievous peck on the lips, "Yes, it is."

Alice was right though... no matter Reimu's frustrations, she had people like this in her life now. People who used to be enemies, resolved their conflicts, and now loved one another. Who needed weird parents indeed!

So what, maybe Reimu _would_ always have questions, maybe these thoughts would just spring up randomly every now and then for the rest of her life, but Reimu certainly hadn't needed her mother all this time, and that wasn't about to change. 

It was in the best mood she'd had for days that Reimu parted ways with Marisa and Alice and made her way home to Hakurei Shrine. 

Reimu was greeted fondly by the shrine's faithful komainu, Aunn Komano, and she indulgently smothered her fluffy seafoam-topped head in headpats and cheek squishes. Reimu offered a simple prayer of thanks to the nameless Hakurei God, who had been her shelter all these years. Reimu spoiled herself a little with a hot cup of matcha tea and some stew. 

Then finally, grateful for her friends, Reimu headed to bed.

She plumped up her futon, crawled under the covers, let her head fall to her pillow, and... 

' _Wait, what’s...? Ugh._ ’ 

A familiar flash. The moment her head hit the pillow.

Like a fleeting memory of the dream that still lingered on the tip of her mind when she had woken up that morning. 

Head on her pillow in her pitch-dark, quiet room, the anxiety she'd been trying to ignore all evening quietly clawed at the pits of her stomach again.

And she noticed it, her mind contemplated it, allowed it to crawl up her throat into her head.

And she questioned it. 

' _Why now?_ ' she asked herself. ' _I don't need my mother, my friends are my family,_ ' she reminded herself. She tried to remind herself. She tried to comfort herself over and over. Tried to distract herself from... 

' _Why can't I remember her face?_ ' the thought forced itself into her mind. 

And as heavy eyelids and a tired head tugged her frustrated mind into the realm of sleep, Reimu caught glimpse of it once again. 

The same dream. 

The same dream Reimu had been having every other week, then every other _night_ , ever since the Animal Spirit Incident. 

Just... a familiar voice calling out her name, over and over...

"ReiRei. I _seee_ you, ReiRei." 

And a... smile. A haunting smile that she recognised, she had seen somewhere before, but couldn’t place. 

"I've _got_ you, ReiRei.” 

Lips curled into an empty grin. A faceless image that flashed in her mind over and over. And over. Lips that would always say the same words. Words that bubbled and repeated and popped in Reimu’s head. 

"Now, until the moment you die." 

Over, 

_"Now, until the moment you die."_

And over, 

" _Now, until the moment you die.” “Now, un_ **_til the moment you die." "Now, until the moment you die."_ **

And over. 

**_"Now, until the moment you die. Now, until the moment you die Now, until the moment you die. Now, until the moment you die Now,_ ** **_un_ ** **_til_ ** **_͞_ ** **_t҉h͢e_ ** **_̕_ ** **_m͢o̶m̧e͜n͜t_ ** **** **_yo̷u_ ** **_̡_ ** **_di̧e_ ** **_͟.͟ Now, ̸_ ** **_unt̕il_ ** **_͡_ ** **_t͞he_ ** **_͞_ ** **_mome͢n͞t_ ** **_̴_ ** **_yo̧u_ ** **** **_d̵ie_ ** **_̨_ ** **_Now_ ** **_,_ ** **_un͞ti͜l_ ** **_͝ ͏_ ** **_th͝e_ ** **_̵_ ** **_m͡om҉ent_ ** **_̛_ ** **_y͞ou_ ** **** **_d͞įe_ ** **_.̴ ͡_ ** **_No͝w_ ** **_, u͜͢͝_ ** **_n̕t_ ** **_͝͏_ ** **_il_ ** **_̵̨͜_ ** **_th_ ** **_͠͞e̵̶ ̢_ ** **_m̡o̴men_ ** **_̕t ͘͠y̡͘_ ** **_o̸u_ ** **_͡ ̨҉̴d̵̛_ ** **_ie_ ** **_̧ ̛͠N̸̸o̡͞w,̷ ̵_ ** **_u͜n̴til_ ** **_̶̡t̶̢h͞e͠͝ ̷͢͡_ ** **_m̴o͞m͠e͢n̴t_ ** **_͢ y̴͞o̡͞u͟ ̧̛_ ** **_d̢i_ ** **_̴̢͜e̵. ̧͜_ ** **_N̴o͡w_ ** **_̨̨,̛͟ ̧u̢̢_ ** **_nt̡i_ ** **_̡l̢͜ ̷̛t̨̛_ ** **_h̕e_ ** **_҉͠_ ** **_m̶om_ ** **_̧͟͠_ ** **_e҉n_ ** **_̸̨ţ̷ ̵_ ** **_y͢o҉u_ ** **_͝_ ** **_d҉i_ ** **_̢͝e ͏N̵̶̢o̵͢w,̧_ ** **_u̵n_ ** **_̛t̶̶_ ** **_il_ ** **_̶̷ ̷_ ** **_t͜h̷e_ ** **_̢m̸̕͡_ ** **_o͟m_ ** **_̧͠_ ** **_en_ ** **_̶̸t̕͝ ͢͡_ ** **_y͢o_ ** **_̷̸̵u ̨_ ** **_d̛i͞e_ ** **_̶.̧̛͞ ͡N̷͢͠ow, u͠͏n͢t̨͢͏_ ** **_i̷l_ ** **_͠ ̸̛_ ** **_th͟e_ ** **_͜ ̧_ ** **_m̡o_ ** **_̷̵̧_ ** **_m҉e_ ** **_̵̨_ ** **_nt_ ** **_͜͢_ ** **_yo_ ** **_̸̨u̧ ̸d̨͢͢_ ** **_i_ ** **_̸͢͝e͏͞ ͝Ņ̡_ ** **_o̸w_ ** **_̴̡̧,̛̕҉_ ** **_un̛t_ ** **_̴̡_ ** **_il_ ** **_͏͘ ̡_ ** **_t̡h̸e_ ** **_̧̛_ ** **_m̧om_ ** **_̧͘ȩ҉_ ** **_n̵t_ ** **_̨͜͞ ̢_ ** **_y͞o̡u_ ** **_̢͘͝_ ** **_die.N_ ** **_̡͘͘o̵͠w̴,̡͜u̵͜n̛͘t͡_ ** **_i_ ** **_̕͝_ ** **_l͢t_ ** **_̕͏h̴̵_ ** **_em_ ** **_͟҉̸o̧̡͠_ ** **_men͘t̷y͠o_ ** **_̛͞_ ** **_ud̴i_ ** **_̸̸̴_ ** **_e.͝N_ ** **_̡̕o҉̕_ ** **_w,͡u_ ** **_̨͏n҉̢_ ** **_t̡i_ ** **_̴̢_ ** **_l͢th_ ** **_̶̴_ ** **_e̸m̕o_ ** **_̛͠_ ** **_m͠e͝n_ ** **_͟͝_ ** **_t͢you_ ** **_͟͟d͘͠_ ** **_i͢e_ ** **_̡̨.͢͝_ ** **_N͏o̶w_ ** **_̶͜,̢҉̶_ ** **_u͢nt_ ** **_͞͠͝_ ** **_i_ ** **_̴̵͝l̵͡t̛͏h̴͞e̷͝m̨̡_ ** **_o͡m_ ** **_̷͟͡e̵̶̵_ ** **_ņt_ ** **_͠_ ** **_y͏o_ ** **_̵̧͠_ ** **_u͜_ ** **_d͏̡͈̞̹̫̲͔͠ͅ_ ** **_i_ ** **_̛̭̣͍̜̞̟̼̮̣͚̫͓͢ͅe̖͇͇̖̪͉̰̹̥̹͖͍̩̰̳̰̻͕͟͢"_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya. It's been a while, nice to see you all again!  
> I know what you may be thinking, stories about Reimu's family have been kinda done to death.. but here's a really weird, unique take on Reimu's family that I sincerely doubt has been done before. One that also involves heavily worldbuilding and loreing-up some often-overlooked corners of Touhou.
> 
> I truly hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did plotting it.
> 
> So back in February, I had all these plans for which story I'd work on in what order planned out in my head. Then, suddenly, an idea hit me, and I couldn't wait to get it down. I don't think I've been this excited about a weird fic idea since I wrote "A World Without You".
> 
> Then a lot of stuff happened in my personal life... and it's been a horrible year for a lot of us so far. But even after I started to get better again, I still wanted to tell this story so badly.
> 
> Once again, it started out as a small idea and evolved into something a little bigger and more ambitious. Not only that, but I really challenged myself this time to work on my descriptive narration, and tighten the prose in general. I'll be really happy if writing this has helped me grow as a writer.
> 
> I hope to upload one or two chapters every two weeks. See you then!
> 
> \-------  
> Glossary:
> 
> Animal Spirit Incident - the incident in Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature. But you don't need to know WBaWC's plot to enjoy this fic!  
> matcha - a finely ground powder made from tea leaves, used for making green tea.  
> Mima - a character from PC98-Touhou. An evil spirit who was Marisa's master (and tried to kill Reimu multiple times)  
> komainu - literally "lion-dog", a statue commonly intended to guard shrines and temples.


	3. duo

A woman clad in red and white, hair as silky black as a starless sky, sat in the solitude of a dim, warm room. And she sighed to herself. 

She adjusted the small ribbon tying the back of her hair. To think, this little thing had become something of a symbol, something that everyone recognised her for. There, that should do it. 

After that, she kneeled down and finally started to make her futon. 

What a day... 

There were times when the Hakurei woman wondered if she'd ever truly get used to exterminating youkai for a living. Was this really how she was supposed to live her life? And her successor, too...? 

The futon was quickly fixed up, but something _still_ felt off. She felt again for the ribbon in her hair, and her finger prickled at its touch. She scrunched her face in irritation, stubborn thing. 

So, by habit, she turned to the mirror. 

She smiled at her hair... just how she had always liked it. But that _ribbon_! Something had to be done with it. It just wasn't sitting right today, no matter how she fiddled. Or perhaps it was something else that felt off? Lady Hakurei bit irritably down on her bottom lip and edged, curiously, closer, to the mirror. 

A single warm tear was noticed, rolling down her cheek. 

That had to be it. Her eyes were red! There were dark circles all around them. Her skin admittedly looked a little pale too. Yes, of course. 

… Disgusting. 

She felt her arms wrap around and hug her own stomach. She felt them clutch tightly. Her stomach hurt. Her guts tied themselves in knots. Her breaths stuttered, spasmed. And as quiet weeps spilled from her chest, tears continued to well and spill from her eyes. Looking at her own tears in the mirror only worsened the realisation of her anguish. 

Unable to look anymore, Lady Hakurei scrunched her eyes shut and tumbled down to her futon. She wrapped her pillow in her arms and held it close, burying her face in it.

She took in the familiar, homely, safe scent of the pillow, the futon, the room around her, and she sobbed. 

"H-how can I face myself anymore? How...? How am I supposed to-…!?" 

Everything was so much harder now. Everything scared her. Everything felt like it was _ending_. Everything, except-... 

A thin beam of light crept through like a crack, into the room. Her ears prickled at the sound of wood sliding through its frame. 

"Mama...?" 

Everything except... her.

Forced to hastily cover tracks of her weakness, Lady Hakurei returned her pillow and made it look like she was just finishing making up her futon. She hid her eyes from her daughter and sniffed quietly. 

"Mama, were you crying again?" 

Ah... busted, huh? Lady Hakurei turned to face the young girl and flashed a sweet, sheepish smile. She nodded, "I'm okay Reimu, don't you worry. Want to come give mama a hug?" 

She held her arms out. Reimu’s socks happily thudded along the tatami into her embrace, thumping into her with a tight squeeze. Lady Hakurei hoisted her daughter into a cuddle on her knees, and stroked the girl's silky black hair. 

"I've got you, Reimu... I've got you..." She held Reimu in her arms as tightly as she could. 

She held Reimu as tightly as she could. As tightly as she could, without hurting the poor thing. She held on to Reimu with such fierce, anxious protection. She had Reimu. Reimu was all that was left. Reimu was all that mattered anymore. Reimu... Reimu... Reimu... 

Lady Hakurei bit down hard on her trembling lip. She had her precious daughter in her arms, she would force herself not to weep in front of her. 

"Don't be sad, mama..." Reimu said with conviction. She patted her little hands reassuringly on her mother's back. "Is it because of when I said you had a weird smile before? I'm really sorry, mama." 

A question asked with such sweet earnestness that her mother couldn't help but chuckle. Finding strength in her daughter, she sniffed again and pulled away to hold Reimu by the shoulders. 

"You're such a sweet girl, my Reimu... of _course_ it's not your fault,” she muttered with a doting smile. “Things have just been difficult for mama recently, but a good mother always tries to smile around her beloved child. A good mother must be _brave_."

"Evil youkai are always making you cry!" Reimu pouted. "I'm gonna get strong and then, and then they will _pay_ for making you cry!" 

A proud grin spread across Lady Hakurei's cheeks. She leaned her forehead close to Reimu's... and gave her nose a little *boop!* with her finger. 

"Well we had best keep training you so you can exterminate youkai like mama as soon as possible, hm ReiRei?" Hakurei giggled. She hoisted Reimu off her lap and finally got up to a stand, ruffling her daughter's head. 

"ReiRei...?" Reimu pouted, blowing her now-messy fringe from her face. "What's ReiRei?" 

"Your new training nickname," Lady Hakurei giggled. She bent forward and scooped little Reimu up into her arms. "A cute nickname for a cute youkai extermination apprentice!" she hupped Reimu's tush into her arms so she was comfortable, and by habit, Reimu threw her arms around her mother’s neck for support. 

And the two shared a little smile. Reimu, hopelessly, tried to pout through her smile. "But it sounds silly... I don't want to be a apprentice..." 

"Then you had better train extra, extra hard until you're not the sidekick anymore, ReiRei!" 

Lady Hakurei giggled again and blew a raspberry on Reimu's neck, making Reimu giggle and squeal and kick her legs in protest. “Stop!” she yelled between giggles, "Stop! Stop! Stopstopstopstop!". 

Lady Hakurei carried Reimu out of her room and gently slid the door shut behind her, the mother and daughter continuing to smile and giggle together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kinda feels like one of the most solid things I've ever written, I'm really happy with it.  
> I hope it gave you warm mushy feelings like it does for me..
> 
> It's just cruel that this doesn't last.


	4. II - It's An Incident

Reimu resolutely swept to the right, dodging a barrage of butterflies that irritatingly refracted light like glass. ' _Does she think that'll distract me?_ ’ Reimu thought with a smirk. Dexterously, she plucked a few ofuda between the fingers of her right hand and threw them ahead, while her left hand channelled energy into her Yin-Yang Orb. 

" _Dream Sign ~ 'Duplex Barrier'!_ " yelled Reimu. A salvo of ofuda gunned from her in sets, bellowing in every direction around her, while layers of simple-but-effective barriers emanated from her body. 

Reimu had lost sight of her opponent, but still she winked with a dramatic yawn. 

"You gonna do anything exciting for once!?" she called out, her eyes scanning the various red and black eyes blinking at her from wherever she looked. 

A parasol buzzed at her on its side like a spinning sawmill blade, but Reimu dodged it so easily that it may as well have not been thrown at all. 

Ah, there! A dainty gloved hand sprouted from out of nowhere and delicately caught the parasol with zero effort. The hand then dropped the parasol into a gap sliced through mid-air, and the hand gave Reimu a fond wave.

Playing along, Reimu waved back before thrusting at the hand with another relentless barrage of ofuda. Predictably, all too predictably, the hand ducked away. 

And for a few moments, there was silence. Reimu shut her eyes, trying to sense the direction of the next attack. 

_"Peekaboo. I_ _seee_ _yoou_ _, Reimu!"_

"Wh--!?" 

" _Evil Spirits ~ 'Bewitching Butterfly Living in the Zen Temple'._ " 

Reimu lurched backwards with a defensive wince, shielding her face with her forearms. Her eyes started to dart around clumsily, her hands started to feel cold from the sweat, her stomach started to churn and clench, and her mind raced. 

She darted back and forth, anticipating a strike from somewhere, anywhere - but this was doing little-more than putting the 'flight' into 'fight or flight mode'. 

And then, a sharp pain. 

A sharp pain? What? Reimu reflexively jolted to the left as she felt the pain digging into her right side. "AGGH!" she screamed through her teeth.

Panicked, she hovered her hand over the wound; a butterfly bullet lodged deeply just above her pelvis. Crap. 

She panicked further, she fell, she hit the ground. Like a cornered beast she desperately flicked off a few more ofuda, and all failed to hit their target, and her right leg buckled, and she gasped for breath. 

Then... she rolled her eyes and groaned. 

"F-fine, fine. I give," Reimu shouted stiffly through grit teeth. She held her Yin-Yang Orbs over the butterfly-bullet in her side, quickly dissolving it and starting to tend to the wound. 

Her opponent popped out of a previously-nonexistent hole in the ground beside her. The hole then rose into the air, and its master perched on the side. Long golden hair bounced with ill-fitting zest, as she tilted her head and looked at Reimu's wound. 

"My my... Marisa was right, there _is_ something wrong with you," said the gap youkai, Yukari Yakumo. 

Yukari gently waved her own hand close to Reimu's wound and had a closer look, fearlessly close to the Yin-Yang Orbs that would sear her skin if she so much as touched one. 

"You just had to put it rudely, huh," Reimu winced irritably. Despite this she subconsciously hovered the orbs further away from Yukari, an unusual and unnecessary consideration that betrayed Reimu's currently vulnerable state. 

Yukari flickered a grin at Reimu, before moving her hand away from the wound and sitting on her gap again. "If that had been a death butterfly you might have been killed. What would you have done if I wasn't going easy on you, hm?" 

"Died?" Reimu scoffed facetiously. "I didn't ask you to go easy on me, I'd have survived somehow." 

"I'm sure," Yukari said, whipping a hand-fan out of her sleeve and fanning herself nonchalantly. "Effectively making light of your flaws is not among your talents, dear." 

"I'm flattered to hear you imply I have talents." 

Yukari couldn't help but let out a genuine chuckle, but steeled her gaze again. "Out with it then. What do you plan to do about this pitiful situation?" she pressed. 

Reimu let out a loud, annoyed, sigh. 

She finished applying a simple sealing spell to her wound, and stood herself up to head back to the shrine building. 

"It's this... incident," Reimu said as she walked. "I've been suspecting it for a while, but I think things are falling into place. That's why I called everyone here today. 

"Something is either haunting _me_ , or the shrine." 

"A fascinatingly ham-fisted conclusion," Yukari hummed apprehensively, making Reimu roll her eyes. "Didn't you already have an evil spirit haunting your shrine at one point?" Yukari continued to tease. 

"Do you make it your mission to ask pointless questions?" Reimu said. "Don't answer that. Anyway, if it was Mima, either Marisa or I would have noticed immediately, and I'm the _only_ one who's been having strange visions." 

Reimu felt Yukari's eyes trained on the back of her head, but Yukari didn't say anything. 

Reimu groaned again and looked back to her, "I take it you don't plan on helping?" 

"What ever would the village say if the Hakurei shrine maiden came to a youkai for help?" Yukari rolled the question off. "No, you have many others willing to help. For now my thoughtful diagnosis should be enough: you’re a mess." 

Reimu figured as much. "Thanks, doc," she responded - sarcasm heavy enough to hide that hint of genuine gratitude. 

Because if even _Yukari_ detected something was wrong with Reimu... then it wasn't just Reimu's imagination. 

"Ah, good morning Reimu!" came a familiar voice. 

Reimu had returned to the shrine's front-grounds just as Youmu Konpaku - half-ghost, half-human and regular ally - was headed up the path to the shrine. 

"Great timing," Reimu said with a nod to Youmu. "Marisa's already here, so go ahead inside, I'll be right there." 

Youmu gave an affirmative nod, "Got it-" but her posture stiffened the moment she spotted Reimu's companion. "O-oh, Lady Yukari! Good morning to you, too!" 

"Yes, yes, good morning Youmu," Yukari said with a playful smile. "Always nice to see you out and about outside of the Netherworld, dear." 

"Y-yes..." Youmu said. 

Awkwardly, she stood still for a few moments. Her eyes drifted somewhere between Reimu and Yukari, before nodding again. Reimu couldn’t help but raise a confused eyebrow; wasn’t Youmu supposed to know Yukari pretty well? 

"I’ll... be heading in, then," Youmu said, finally asserting herself before making her way into Reimu's home. 

Reimu heaved a sigh and turned back to Yukari with a fist on her hip. "What was that?" 

"Upon seeing me, the poor thing took a moment to consider whether or not I would judge her for leaving her master's side for the day," Yukari replied, know-it-all smile obscured by her fan. "She of course decided that I would not, and that it did not really matter what I thought to begin with."

"Considering how much time you spend with Yuyuko, I'd have thought Youmu would be more comfortable around you by now." 

"Are _you_ comfortable around me?” Yukari asked. “I don't exactly behave like family to her." 

Reimu paused in thought for a moment. It wasn’t like Yukari made Reimu uncomfortable, but Yukari had definitely always remained intentionally obtuse and standoffish, no matter _how_ many years Reimu had known her. 

She shot Yukari a terse smirk, "Point taken," and headed up the steps to her shrine before giving Yukari a more familiar smile. "You know that neither Youmu or I can rely on you, but I know that you'll still be listening even if you decide to vanish. So... you might as well sit and drink tea with us instead." 

After flashing a smirk of her own, Yukari slipped back away into a gap without a word. 

And once again, Reimu had no idea when she'd see her again, if ever. 

Sure, Reimu had a feeling that Yukari would probably take her up on her offer and join them for tea. She had a feeling that she understood the elder youkai better these days in general. But it was still just that, a _feeling_. 

Sometimes her friends would make comments like "does it make you feel safe? Having one of the creators of Gensokyo as a mentor figure?" but Reimu had never been able to say yes. She had never been able to say for certain if she could rely on Yukari to _be_ there. Ever. 

Yeah, 'mentor' she wasn't. It was actually just like Yukari said regarding Youmu - she didn't exactly _behave_ like 'family'. 

' _She's the closest thing to family I've got,_ ' was a consideration that had passed through Reimu's mind on more than one occasion. And that thought, too, was almost always followed by the same voice of reason: 

_'Her? Get real. Marisa has always been far closer to real family than that aloof woman could ever be.'_

Even keeping her found-family in mind though, a dull ache still rang from Reimu's chest as she meandered around the shrine's kitchen to prepare tea. 

Reimu and a few friends sat around the table in her home’s main room, drinking tea. 

A familiar sight with an unfamiliar twist; they had been invited to discuss a suspected ‘incident’. 

An ‘incident’ that Reimu only had muttered claims of, trickles of barely-information, vague indications of weird visions, words that all lacked in certainty or confidence. 

Total silence followed her latest attempt at an explanation. Marisa, Alice and Youmu all set their own cups down as Reimu had. Eyes darted around the room, waiting for someone to say something. Aunn sneezed from somewhere outside.

The extra cup of tea Reimu had prepared remained untouched. 

"So, uh," Reimu said. She definitely wasn't used to handling incidents in this way. "Any questions? Ideas?" 

Marisa and Alice both gave Reimu understanding smiles. Not really helpful, but sentiment appreciated. 

Finally though, Youmu slowly rose her hand, "Uhm?”

"You don't have to raise your hand," Reimu waved casually towards Youmu, leaning her cheek on her other hand. 

Youmu lowered her hand but remained sat straight. "Forgive me, but this doesn't seem like an incident,” she said, seeming more relaxed than earlier despite her formal tone. "Normally incidents are more... spontaneous, like there's no ‘organisation’ beforehand right?" 

Without realising it, Reimu had started to pout. 

Marisa and Alice exchanged awkward glances over Reimu's evident unease... but they quickly found something else to fix on. "Ah!!" Marisa quietly squeaked, while Alice's entire body startled in shock on the spot. 

Reimu blinked at the table, finally noticing that the extra cup of tea she had prepared had suddenly vanished. Her eyes travelled from the table to the others to see Yukari drinking from the cup, suspended in the air above poor Alice's head. 

"Ugh, what's _she_ doing here?" Alice grimaced, trying to keep her face from turning red. Apparently, Yukari had chosen Alice as victim this time. 

"Sorry about her," Reimu smiled stiffly. "She's curious about the incident, I'll keep an eye on her." 

"Yes yes, pay me no mind," Yukari hummed, happily drinking her tea all while leaning her gloved elbows on Alice's pretty blonde head. "Pretend I'm not here," she added, as facetiously as possible. 

' _What an incorrigible youkai,_ ' Reimu and Youmu shared a thought and sighed in unison, simultaneously surprised and utterly _unsurprised_ at the woman’s unpleasant behaviour. 

Alice couldn’t help but duck a little towards Marisa, and Marisa had cuddled up to Alice's side to help her feel more secure. Marisa then figured it was up to her to break all the weird tension in the room.

"Aaaanyway," she started boisterously, easily claiming everyone's attention. "Youmu, incident-resolution meetings are gonna be a thing now, from today until... today." 

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Reimu snapped back. Tension: broken. 

"It’s just like Youmu said, spontaneity is how incidents normally play out," Marisa explained, smirking at Reimu. "We don't normally invite people round like 'hey come help us resolve this incident'." 

Youmu giggled. "Yeah, that's what I thought. During the last incident, I was only caught up because an animal spirit possessed me as it did with you two." 

“Right,” Marisa went on. “This time’s a bit different though, we’re only here ‘cus the incident might be Reimu _herself_. Basically, she needs a second opinion.” 

"If you don't want to be here, you can go home," Reimu said, pouting defensively again. "I only _need_ Youmu here anyway." 

Reimu was used to Marisa's banter, but for some reason she couldn't help but take it all a little more personally this time. 

"H-huh?" Youmu sounded genuinely shocked, "Me!?" 

"I can't speak for this clown here," Alice said, elbowing an apologetic-looking Marisa in the stomach, "but I for one was glad to come. I've been worried about you, Reimu." 

Marisa was now waving her hands defensively at both Alice and Reimu. "I-I really was worried too! I was just seein' if you were feelin' any better about it! S-sorry, Reimu..." 

"I told you to be more sensitive about this, dear," Alice stuck her nose up at Marisa. 

“ _Aaagh_ _!_ ” Reimu raised her voice, self-consciously crossing her arms. "Enough of the fuss already! I'm _fine_ ! The shrine's just haunted! Or! _Something!!_ " 

Another silence. The other three exchanged awkward glances. Yukari slurped loudly at her tea. 

"So... haunted, huh?" Marisa noted. "That's news to me. Y'think it's got somethin’ to do with when we were possessed by animal spirits earlier in the year?” 

Trying to calm herself a little, Reimu tapped her index finger on the table. "W-well, it's a working theory. But yeah, maybe? I mean, I've been getting those visions ever since that incident." 

"But uh, you said you needed my help, right?" Youmu piped up in quiet panic. "I'm afraid I'm actually _not_ good with haunted stuff. At all." 

"Besides I was possessed by the animal spirits too, remember?" Marisa noted. "And this shrine's no stranger to bein' haunted either-" 

"I must say this incident-resolution meeting has a _most_ unique structure," Yukari observed from somewhere in the dark corner of the room, behind a vexed-looking Alice. "Chaotic, random yelling from every direction, zero progress. You love to see it." 

"Shut up, it's a work in progress!" Reimu sighed with exasperation, getting up with a soft slam on the table. 

Fine, fine. Yukari had a point, and her own defensive attitude had just left the situation even more confused. 

The facts of the incident. The facts. Reimu took a deep breath, then drank deep from her cup again, and ran her mind over what exactly the problem was again. 

' _I_ _seee_ _yoou._ ' 

"Right..." Reimu said. She exhaled deeply, and softened her posture. "Here's a working theory, then." 

Once again, everyone settled their gazes on Reimu. Calmly. Curiously. Yukari's smirk softened in the dark. 

"As I mentioned before, these visions started out just isolated to dreams, but I've been having them more and more often while awake." Reimu said. She shut her eyes in recollection. "But now that you guys mention it, yeah. It does seem like they all started _after_ the Animal Realm incident was resolved.” 

Reimu went on to explain her reasoning. Even though Marisa and Youmu were also involved in the last incident, no one else had been affected. Only _she_ had, and only _she_ could even sense it. This made her think it was either herself or the shrine that was cursed, haunted, whatever, however. 

And she had _hoped_ that if it was some kind of haunting, a ghost youkai like Youmu might be able to sense something the others couldn’t. 

“But... if it's really true that Marisa, Alice and Lady Yukari can't sense anything..." Youmu said, darting a quick glance at Yukari who simply nodded. "... Then I certainly can't promise I will be able to find anything either.” 

‘ _Gee, and my hopes were_ _soo_ _high,_ ’ Reimu thought. 

As far as Reimu was concerned, it was difficult _not_ to freak out when you relentlessly sensed something no one else could! And now she felt like everyone was being _extra-fussy_ and _weird_ when all she wanted was to find out what was wrong with her! Quietly trembling at that anxious, defensive churning in her guts, Reimu tried her best to keep a grasp of her composure. 

"Just... try, please." 

"… All right,” Youmu replied. 

Lacking any other leads, Reimu was eager for Youmu to give it a thorough look as soon as possible. So, the group, including Yukari, headed out towards the main shrine. 

The others watching from the sidelines, Reimu and Youmu begun to behave with careful, formal precision. Reimu placed the Hakurei Shrine goshintai - her Yin-Yang Orbs - on their rarely-used display platform. Then, wordlessly, her and Youmu got into position. 

Youmu held her palms out towards Reimu, and Reimu shut her eyes. Reimu immediately took a long, deep breath, drawing herself into a calm, meditative state. 

It helped that slipping in-and-out of meditation had always been child’s play for her. 

She had always been good at it.

So good that people even doubted she was doing it 'properly'...

Just as... she always... said...

"Feels weird, trying to exorcise the pro-exorcist," Youmu broke through Reimu’s thoughts, trying to lighten the mood. Reimu huffed a weak smile, and Youmu felt a little better. 

Youmu allowed her spiritual energy to run through her arms. Her ghost-half began to coil and squirm more rapidly around her body. A rhythm was gradually established, and Youmu begun to chant under her breath. 

And everyone watched. Quietly. Patiently. 

For five minutes. For ten minutes. For half an hour. 

Eventually though... Youmu's face scrunched. Frustrated resignation. Then, the glow of her palms hesitantly softened into nothing. 

The group watched with silent worry. Reimu's posture slumped in realisation. 

"I’m s-sorry, Reimu..." Youmu finally said out loud. "There's... nothing. Only trace amounts of an evil spirit youkai, and-" 

"Yeah," Marisa said, flumping her fists onto her hips with a confused frown. "If it was just Lady Mima, we'd be able to tell right away. But she writes me letters, an’ I'm pretty sure she's nowhere around Gensokyo at the moment." 

Reimu fell deep into frustrated thought. She scrunched her face. She pinched at her brow. 

"A-and...” she mumbled. “Mima never said anything like... 'until the moment you die'... right? Th-that was- no, wait, that wasn't-..." she anxiously kept mumbling to herself, almost too scared to even force the words out. 

Again, Reimu's friends all watched her with a quiet, confused concern. Much too focused on Reimu to notice Yukari's eyes widening from behind her fan. 

"I uh," Marisa mumbled, biting her thumb. "I couldn't say if she ever said anythin’ like that... sorry, Reimu.” 

Reimu felt unable to look at them. She stared solemnly at the ground, squeezing her upper-arm. She felt almost more lost than ever, and worse than that, she felt humiliated. 

Marisa shot Alice a 'help me' look, and Alice promptly stepped forward to rub Reimu's shoulder. 

"What matters for now is that we've narrowed down the possibilities,” Alice said. “Perhaps it's not an obvious curse or haunting, but that doesn't mean your dreams and visions mean nothing either."

Marisa's eyes brightened, bouncing off of Alice's encouragement. "That's right, Reimu! Your hunches are almost never wrong, right? Just ignore your doubts, follow your gut, and you'll resolve this the Reimu way, like always!"

… Huh, Marisa _did_ have a point. 

Slowly, Reimu's dejected expression started to lighten a little. She flashed Alice and Marisa a weak smile, before looking down again. "I just... I don't know what to do next. Like, I always have this gut feeling of _where_ to go or _what_ to do, but this time, I-..." 

"Really?" Youmu piped up again, a look of quiet surprise on her face. Reimu, Marisa and Alice all looked at her with confusion. 

"Well, it just seems to me like,” Youmu continued, “if this has been happening ever since we came back from Hell and the Animal Realm, then... maybe a good idea is to just retrace your steps?” 

Reimu's stomach lurched in protest. "No, I don't wan-..." she blurted out. She... noticed this, and corrected herself. "I... don't think I need to." 

Wait... ' _I don't want to_ '... why? Why did she think that? 

"We have no other leads, so it sounds like a good idea to me," Alice smiled warmly at Youmu. "I'll come along too. It's been a while since I joined an investigation." 

' _No, s_ _he's calling to me,_ ' Reimu's mind raced, ' _if I go to her, I'll be trapped. I can't go. I don't want to go. I'm scared._ ' Reimu's mind shouted relentlessly at her in panic. 

But... she couldn't vocalise this feeling. Like, she opened her mouth and the words all got stuck in her throat.

She was... scared? 

"Yup, I say that's as good a hunch as any!" Marisa flung an arm around Reimu's shoulder, shoving Reimu's mind back into reality. "What're we waiting for?” Marisa said. “Incident squad, move out! Not even Hell will scare us!" 

Hold on... that’s right! Reimu didn't _get_ scared!

"Please, never say that again," Alice smirked at Marisa, beginning to hover into the air alongside Youmu. 

"Hey uhm, did anyone see where Lady Yukari went?" Youmu darted her eyes around as she flew towards the shrine's main torii gates.

"Didn’t even say bye huh? Ignore her, she's always like that," Marisa said. "Onward, to Higan!" 

The ordinary magician continued to tug Reimu along towards the shrine's front steps, and Reimu limply followed. 

She stared at the ground, following the group in a trance. Her mind just kept on arguing in circles. Like her trusted intuition was completely at-odds with itself. And she couldn’t stop thinking about it! Why was she scared!?

Reimu never got scared.

Reimu's hunches were _never_ fear-based.

But Reimu was... _terrified_ of this pull. 'Her' call.

... But Reimu never _got_ scared!

And... that meant... it could only mean... Her fear of this 'call' wasn't actually the hunch at all.

This fear was trying to _muzzle_ the hunch!

Finally turning an expression of determination towards Marisa, Reimu nodded. 

"I have to go. I _need_ to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yukari isn't really a "family" person huh.
> 
> So, this is something of a bridge chapter. A chaotic meeting where Reimu and her friends try to somehow steer themselves in a productive direction with almost no leads.
> 
> A couple of new characters showed up in this chapter, including that infamous youkai who usually only shows up for important reasons. Yukari's not a main character this time, but doesn't it seem like she might know something?
> 
> Of course just as noteworthy is Youmu's debut. Her ever-inquisitive nature ends up being one of the key things to help the others finally find a direction for the investigation.
> 
> Youmu's role in the overall story isn't huge either, but I still really wanted to bring her along for the ride. She was in Touhou 17 so leaving her out completely would feel wrong, plus I just wanted to finally write her again. By the way Youmu, congrats on winning the Touhou Popularity Poll this year!
> 
> I hope to publish chapters 5+6 two weeks from now. From here on out, the story is set to become a roller-coaster of almost nonstop developments an events. I hope you'll look forward to it, see you then!
> 
> \------------
> 
> Glossary:  
> ofuda - a charm-inscribed strip of paper used in Shintoism, as amulets or talisman for purification or exorcism. In Touhou, they're a particularly common weapon for Reimu, though Sanae and some other characters sometimes use them too.  
> goshintai - an object that is said to house a god in shintoism. They are used as a method to communicate with certain gods more easily. Reimu's Yin-Yang Orbs are the goshintai of the Hakurei God.


	5. tres

'Meditation time' was so boring. 

What the heck was meditation supposed to help? Reimu kind of got it... okay, so, it helps people center their energy and it’s also useful for calming down after something really busy happens. 

But mama always took _way_ too long meditating. Is it normal to take that long meditating? Once again, apparently so. Reimu supposed her mama was fighting extremely strong youkai, way stronger than any of the weak beast youkai Reimu had practised on. Maybe that meant she needed to meditate for way longer than Reimu did? 

Whenever Reimu brought up that she could finish with meditation way quicker than mama could, her mother would always shoot back with something like "You mustn't shirk training Reimu, make sure you're meditating properly!" 

And just thinking about that made Reimu feel a little annoyed. 

"I ammm...!" Reimu huffed to herself. Her crossed legs became restless. She scrunched her eyebrows and her face into a rebellious pout, then shot up to her feet. 

Reimu stomped around the shrine grounds a little. She carefreely kicked a rock about under her shoes. What to do, what to do... mediation was too easy and boring... 

The shrine grounds were always really quiet when mama was meditating inside the main shrine. Her mama's turtle friend wasn't much for company either. Still, Reimu figured he was better than nothing, and so she made her way to the shrine's pond. 

"Heya Gramps," Reimu announced, and kneeled down at the pond. She poked her finger at the surface of the water, close to an ancient-looking turtle shell. If he was awake, this usually got his attention pretty fast. 

As she suspected, Genjii slowly raised his head from the water, his white beard looking almost like slimy moss as it dripped with the pond's water. 

He took his time looking around and shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun. Eventually, his expression relaxed into a fond, yet tired one. "Finished with mediation already, young Reimu?" he recited, as if he had had this very conversation many times before. 

"I took a normal amount of time," Reimu declared, sticking her nose up slightly. "It's mama who takes too long." 

"Are you sure you are doing it properly?" Genjii asked, as usual, as if Reimu's mother had put him up to it. 

"I _always_ do it properly!" Reimu huffed, her face growing slightly red. "You center your energy and clear your mind and stuff. It helps you look forward clearly even if your brain's been all funky." 

Genjii raised one of his crooked eyebrows and chuckled. "You certainly stop doing it very quickly, it makes me wonder if you have really cleared anything at all... Still, I will let you off this time." 

Well that was a relief. Every time anyone lectured about her not meditating, it was like they didn't _believe_ her. She was telling the truth though! It really was easy. 

"I don't get why it takes mama so _loong_ ," Reimu whined at Genjii, leaning one of her cheeks in her hand. "She's suuper strong, so she should be stronger at meditation too, right?" 

"It does not entirely work like that," said Genjii. This made Reimu scoff, because of _course_ it worked like that. 

Feeling that perhaps he could help Reimu understand though, Genjii continued. "Your mother has been through an awful lot in the last few years, Reimu. I am certain that she meditates so hard to be as strong as she can be for the both of you." 

"Then maybe I just need to show her I'm okay!" Reimu said with a grin, hupping to her feet and turning on her heels to face the shrine. 

Genjii reached his head out of the water and followed the girl a little. "Reimu, I am not so sur-" 

"Thanks, Gramps!" Reimu smirked cheekily. "I feel a lot better!" 

"I am not so sure that you should interru-... oh dear, she is already gone." 

Reimu stomped victoriously around to the front of the main shrine building... in there, her mama was doing her super important long as heck meditation that always took hours and hours and hours to finish. Reimu just wanted to spend some time with her, so maybe some time with Reimu would help mama feel better too? 

So, looking forward to surprising her mother and making her smile, Reimu crept up the main steps with a quiet giggle and a grin on her face. She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her giggling. 

But... then she heard voices. 

"... lready made quite clear that I do not like this arrangement of yours one bit. It was extremely irresponsible and selfish of you." 

"I'm aware of your qualms, but you know as well as I do that it's too late to change things. Can you get to the point of what you came here for today?" 

That was mama's voice. Who was she talking to? 

"How much longer?" came the voice Reimu didn't recognise. It was a creepy, airy voice. 

"Only a few more years, I promise. Like I told you last time, at least until Reimu can fight for herself. Just leave us alone until then, please?" 

Reimu's eyes widened. What? What can wait? What were they talking about? 

**_Creak..._ **

Suddenly, Reimu felt eyes and breath on her from every direction. _Every direction._

"... Well, it appears a cute little spy has stationed herself outside," came the unfamiliar voice, the one Reimu could feel staring at her. "I shall make myself scarce. Do take care of her, won't you?" 

"You don't have to ask me that. I assure you there's _nothing_ I would rather do. Goodbye." 

Suddenly filled with confidence at being called a 'spy', Reimu threw herself through the shrine's main doors to see her mama, kneeling formally. 

But... whoever her mother had been talking to was no longer there. The corner of Reimu's eyes could only just make out a dark purple shadow scurrying away into the gaps between the boarding. 

"Get it!" Reimu shouted after a moment. “Get it!!” She dived at the place the shadow disappeared and peered her eyes between the boards. "That's an evil youkai, right mama!? Let's exterminate it together!"

As Reimu pressed her eye close against the space between the boards, she could have sworn she could see another eye, deep down there in the dark. A wide, red eye, blinking back at her.

"Wah!!" Reimu bounced back, retreating to her mother's lap. 

"You know you're not supposed to interrupt meditation time, Reimu..." her mother frowned as she stroked her daughter's hair. Reimu felt herself being held a little tighter than usual. 

"B-but you weren't meditating...!" Reimu looked pleadingly up at her mother's eyes. "There was a youkai-!!" 

"I had it under control. I'm Gensokyo's number one youkai expert, remember?" 

The elder Hakurei gave her daughter's shoulders an affectionate and reassuring rub. She brushed Reimu's bangs aside and placed a doting kiss on her forehead. 

"I wanna help you to beat big evil youkai like that mama, so they won't say stupid things about us anymore." 

"Did you finish your meditations properly?" Hakurei changed the topic, even though she _knew_ it might upset Reimu. 

"O-of course I did!" Reimu puffed her cheeks up. She rebelliously pulled away from her mama's pampering a little. "Why don't you believe me!?" 

Lady Hakurei then leaned down, and rested her warm forehead against her daughter's. She hugged the back of her daughter's head slightly, and took a single, deep breath. 

"I believe you," she said with a warm smile. She finally got up, and outstretched her hand to Reimu's. "You’re very good at meditation. Keep up the good work and you'll be able to beat her up in no time!" 

A huge grin spread across Reimu’s face. She took her mother's hand, and the two smiled confidently at one another before heading back outside again. 

"What did I do to deserve such a strong, honest girl like you Reimu?" 

"Be the coolest and strongest mama ever?" 

"Strongest! Is that right?" Lady Hakurei beamed. 

"Plus being honest is easy. What's the point in lying anyways? It just feels like a waste of time to me." 

But at that, Lady Hakurei’s smile became plastic. She bit her lip. She looked up at the setting sun to hide her pained expression from her precious daughter. 

‘ _Hm_ _._ _Lying... a waste of time..._ ’ 

She couldn't agree. 

_'I wonder... Not a single day goes by that I don't resent not being able to tell you the truth._

_‘I truly wish I could, ReiRei... from the bottom of my heart._

_‘But each and every moment I have left with you is far too precious.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh. I guess Yukari *does* know something. :bigthink:


	6. III - Reimu's Intuition

"It was around here, wasn't it?" Youmu asked. She scanned her eyes over a familiar ocean of haunting red flowers; a sight that stretched for miles and miles in every direction around them. 

Higan was a surreal place, both serene and unnerving in its unchanging tranquility. 

Here there was no day, no night, no spring, summer, autumn or winter. It was a land between worlds, a purgatory filled with naught but endless fields of flowers, either comforting or haunting those who awaited decisive judgement before the next life. 

Exploring this corner nearest the Sanzu River, so thoroughly coated in the eerily creeping red spider-lilies, made it easy to forget that other parts of Higan were a fair bit more pleasant. 

But these spooky flowers also served as an important marker. 

The red spider-lily, 'Higanbana', is said to represent passage to the next life. Also called the ‘Hell Flower’, it is mysteriously rumoured to grow in especially chaotic abundance at Earth’s closest points to Hell itself. 

"Mhm," Reimu finally nodded to Youmu, somehow spotting some familiar landmarks as she flew over the remarkably featureless field of flowers. "This is the Checkpoint of Oniwatari." 

It was mere months ago that the beast spirits possessing Reimu, Marisa and Youmu had hounded them through this place towards Hell, but this checkpoint was also significant for other reasons. 

The Checkpoint of Oniwatari was an official checkpoint overseen by the Ministry of Right and Wrong, but due to its involvement in the cycle of afterlife and reincarnation it also served as a crossroads for many different realms besides just Gensokyo and Hell. 

"Any sign of that chicken lady?" Marisa stared over the fields of flowers, shielding her eyes from the perpetually bright, empty sky. 

"Chicken lady...?" Alice gasped. She put her hand to her mouth in quiet realisation, "Oh my goodness, it's been so long that I had almost forgotten the chicken lady! 

"You know Miss Kutaka as well?" Youmu asked with a smile. "She was very cooperative during the Animal Realm Incident, she'll definitely help us out." 

"That's news to me," Reimu raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Since when do you know Kutaka, Alice?" 

"It really has been a long while since you last visited Makai, hasn't it Reimu?" Alice replied with a sheepish smile. 

"Huh?" Reimu said. "What's that got to do with anything?" 

"Well, remember that incident when we were kids?" Alice started to explain, "… The one my mother caused, I mean. 

“Ever since then, the Ministry of Right and Wrong has been working with Makai's government to tighten the number of passages between worlds. Technically the shortcut to the crossroads in Mount Hakurei has been ‘officially’ off-limits for years already. Whenever I visit Makai, it's usually via this checkpoint." 

Hm. Reimu cupped her chin in her hand for a few seconds and nodded. That would explain why far less youkai spill out from Mount Hakurei than they used to. 

"But that doesn't explain why Marisa only met Kutaka for the first time a few months ago, even though Marisa _also_ visits Makai a lot,” Reimu raised a suspicious eyebrow at Marisa. 

"I prefer to take the Palanquin Ship," Marisa added, sticking her nose up proudly. "Trips to Makai are better-taken in _style_.” 

"Which she is _really_ not supposed to do. I’m sure even the ship’s poor owners would prefer if you stopped using it irresponsibly," Alice sighed, still staring a doting smile at Marisa anyway. "Please just do it the proper way, dear?" 

"Whatever, a dimension-hopping-flying-ship is objectively cooler," Marisa wrapped an arm around Alice's arm and sidled up to her. "If we ever do, like, a honeymoon-type-vacation, we should take the rebel's route to Makai. Way more romantic to break the ministry's rules an' fly in from the sky, am I right?" 

A deep red flushed across Alice’s face. "I-I-, you-" she blubbered, completely taken aback. 

Reimu grinned in disbelief at the couple, as Youmu quietly raised her hand. "Ahh, uhm..." Youmu mumbled, darting her eyes to the side. "Please be more careful with what you say out lou-” 

"Who's going to break the ministry's rules!?" A familiar voice suddenly broke the air. "You won't get away with that on my watch, I'll show you Hell before you can even set foot inside!" 

The group turned towards the checkpoint to see Kutaka Niwatari, god of chickens and Ministry employee, soaring towards them. She looked quite bothered indeed by what she had just overheard. 

"Good morning, Miss Kutaka! It's me, Youmu!" Youmu yelped, defensively waving her hands. "We're not going to break any rules, they were just messing around!" 

"Oh!" Kutaka slowed her furious flight. Hovering to the ground, Kutaka’s boots crunched to the soft grass, carefully avoiding the flowers. "Yes, Youmu, I remember you. Though... I’m still not so sure about your ruffian friends ruffling my feathers..." 

"I'm not-!" Marisa opened her mouth, appalled, hovering her hand just above Kutaka's irresistibly soft wings. Alice slapped Marisa's hand down. 

Reimu rolled her eyes at Marisa and sighed. "We were involved in the Animal Realm incident a few months back," Reimu said to Kutaka. "The shrine maiden and magician, remember?" 

"Uhhhh..." Kutaka said. She took a few struts forward and squinted at the both of them, "Oh yeaaah... it’s you guys! Thanks again for your help back then, sorry if I seemed a little confrontational just now." 

"They totally understand, Miss Kutaka," Youmu said with a relieved smile. "They're both really confrontational people too." 

"Hey!!" Reimu and Marisa both yelled in sync, making Youmu giggle. 

Alice then shuffled around to Kutaka's front, still locking one arm with Marisa, and pointed to herself. "What about me, Miss Kutaka? Do you remember me?" 

"Absolutely not!" Kutaka beamed. With a disappointed pout, Alice shrunk into Marisa's arms at having been completely forgotten. "I'm really sorry," Kutaka continued. "I'm a little birdbrained, so I tend to totally forget people if I don't see them often. That aside, what can I do for you lot?" 

Despite how clumsy one might expect the subject of her memory to be, Kutaka ended up sounding confident and sure of herself in such a way that Alice was able to shrug her shoulders and accept it. The group all looked at Reimu after Kutaka’s question. 

"We'd like to go to the crossroads," Reimu begun. "Hmm... come to think of it, you might actually be helpful." 

"I mean, it's my job to be helpful," Kutaka lidded her eyes. 

"Look," Reimu continued. "Have you noticed anything weird around here lately? Something happened to me during the Animal Spirit incident, so I'm pretty sure some curse from Hell or the Animal Realm got itself onto me somehow." 

Pausing to look at Reimu for a moment, Kutaka then strutted around her. She held her hand to her chin and stared carefully at Reimu's arms, then at her neck. 

"If you caught a cold in Hell, you've come to the right woman!" Kutaka said, proudly ruffling up her chest. "I'll have your throat fixed in a jiffy!" 

"It's not a cold!" Reimu snapped. "It's spiritual, I've been getting visions and feeling a pull from somewhere. Somewhere besides Gensokyo.” 

Kutaka sighed, quickly accepting that there was, unfortunately, probably nothing wrong with Reimu's throat. "I'm really not supposed to just let people through without the yama's permission or proper immigration procedure... but I guess if it's official Hakurei Shrine incident-resolving business, I can make an exception.” 

"Consider it a favour for how much we helped last time!" Marisa said, pointing boisterously at Kutaka. 

"I already said I'd allow it!!" 

Kutaka's memory may not have been the best, but her inability to disagree with Reimu's assertive group was quickly coming back to her. With resignation, she politely invited them through the checkpoint and into the crossroads between worlds. 

So... this crossroads was actually the very same place that the wormhole in Mount Hakurei used to lead to. Reimu had been sneaking through Higan since she was a kid without even realising, who knew? 

Last time they were here though, Reimu, Marisa and Youmu had headed right on through to a desolate region of Hell as part of a test from Yachie Kicchou, one of the matriarchs of the Animal Realm. Ultimately though, Yachie pulled them all into the Animal Realm through a weak border in Hell. Another wormhole that the ministry hadn’t been aware of. 

Since that incident calmed down, the early stages of diplomatic-relations between the Ministry and the Animal Realm had been established. A more official gate was even being worked on already. 

Actually, Kutaka might choose to describe the Checkpoint of Oniwatari and its crossroads as more like a port than a simple entrance - but few in Gensokyo had ever seen a port or airport before. 

As well as simply guarding the checkpoint, it was also Kutaka’s job to oversee and manage its employees. Then, the checkpoint would make arrivals and departures between otherworlds as smooth as possible. 

Well, perhaps that was overselling it. 

Travel between otherworlds was hardly a common occurrence yet; the crossroads itself was always very much ‘under construction’. Pure, jovial tourism and holidaymaking for the masses was still far from becoming reality, much to the disappointment of some Makaian officials. 

Not to mention pretty much everyone in the ministry agreed that "tourism across the Sanzu River" was a terrible, awful idea for almost every conceivable reason. But still, early days! 

After a short while of leading the group, Kutaka twirled around to face them. "What exactly are you looking for?" she asked. "The gates are right here." 

... Yes. Now that Reimu had stopped to look at it, this area was very familiar. The red spider-lilies overgrew into a hellish, cancerous mash that spilled over each other. They had hurriedly passed over that horrifically dense ocean of red claws months ago, and watched as the densely packed flowers cruelly starved and rotted the further the path went. That was the entrance to Hell. 

The other entrances were comparatively more official-looking, and by extension less chaotic. Multiple faint beams of light poured from the ground, each still fenced-off by magic circles and rope seals... and a few yellow ‘CAUTION: WET PAINT’ signs for good measure. 

The gates all had their own tell-tale signs of worlds leaking into one-another as borders crossed. To the left of Hell, phantoms and spirits dancing in the air... that would surely be an entrance to The Netherworld, where Youmu lived. 

The beam of light to the right of Hell was much weaker. There was already rich green grass growing around it though, even a half-grown apple tree. A faint, stampeding thundering could be heard emanating from it. 

The gate was evidently extremely new, but Reimu, Marisa and Youmu immediately recognised the energy coming from it. This was the entrance to the Animal Realm. Its close proximity to the suffocating ocean of higanbana made it look especially unnatural; almost... _designed_ _._

Surreal views like this were something Reimu no longer questioned though, this actually reminded her of the way multiple seasons clashed during another incident a few years ago. Visual chaos like this was probably just inevitable when the energies of entire worlds mingled so closely together. 

"Anythin', Reimu?" Marisa said, turning to look at Reimu's blank-faced concentration. 

"Mm... nothing,” Reimu frowned. 

Reimu had been stood completely still, eyes darting from Hell to the Animal Realm, trying to feel something out. Having no idea what she was looking for had never stopped her before, so why was _this_ so frustrating? 

She began to crunch her feet through the sickly red spiders trying to ensnare her, over to where animal spirits slipped between realms in attempt to graze on overgrown grass. 

Nothing. 

' _This is so stupid_ ' Reimu's mind said. ' _This is completely irrelevant. What are we even doing here?_ ' 

"Reimu...?" Alice held a hand out. 

Reimu couldn't feel anything, so why was she physically trembling? She scrunched her eyes shut and grimaced. She gripped her arm tight. The curse came from the last time she passed through this crossroads. It _had_ to have done. She stepped past the seal fencing off the Animal Realm, and peeked through. 

“Hey, you’re not supposed to use that yet!” Kutaka yelled after her. “It’s not ready!” 

“Like that’ll stop me!” Reimu stuck her tongue out. 

She kept her eyes shut, trying to remember how she felt last time she was here. She backtracked, and started pacing to-and-from the entrance to Hell, over and over. She jumped to the air and started flying, hoping to recreate that feeling... jog her memory... put a name to that nagging feeling in her head! 

' _I've found you, Reimu. I see you!_ ' 

"Who said that?" Reimu mumbled out loud. 

"No one said anythin', Reimu." Marisa confirmed. 

Yeah, of course. That's fine. Reimu scrunched her eyes and soared through the entrance to Hell. The last time she was here, she flew victoriously out of Hell after defeating one of the Animal Realm’s matriarchs, so what if she retraced-... 

"I see you, ReiRei!" came the voice. 

It was... no longer in her head. 

Reimu's eyes shot open and her body lurched. She heard that with her ears. For certain this time. 

Soaring back from Hell’s entrance she dived in the direction it had come from. It felt so close! So _real_ ! This was the most clarity she had ever heard it with; there was no question now, this was more than a hallucination. It was a voice she had heard before! She just couldn't remember when, or where, or _who_!! 

"You got somethin'? Reimu!?" Marisa dashed to follow her. 

But she didn't have to go far; it wasn't long before Reimu had stopped again. 

Marisa stopped at Reimu's side, looking at the tall, majestic, beam of light in front of them. Alice slowly approached the two from behind, and placed her hands on Marisa's shoulders. 

Reimu blinked. She shook her head out of its daze. She opened her eyes again, this time taking in reality. "This..." she said. "Where is this? It's so... familiar..." 

"Reimu..." Alice mumbled. "Don't you remember?" 

"We solved all kindsa incidents here back when we were kids," Marisa grinned, taking in Reimu's speechless expression. 

The blue beam shot from a smooth, stone relief. The structure had four sides and four corners, perfectly symmetrical and carefully taken care of. Each corner had a raised slab. The slabs were adorned with familiar images – highly complex magic circles, the diagrams encasing ancient demonic writings. The portal itself gave off a magical stench so strong it could be mistaken for miasma. 

Which perhaps wouldn't have been notable to Reimu if it wasn't so, terrifyingly, nostalgic. 

Yes... Reimu had been through here before... This... this was... 

"Reimu, that's the entrance to Makai," Kutaka said. 

... 

' _Why?_ ' 

Reimu's mind continued to race questions as the group headed through. Her senses, overwhelmed, were only vaguely aware of what transpired around her. Her thoughts were completely within her head, barely conscious of her surroundings. 

"Welcome back, Lady Alice!" 

"Lemme through, gatekeep!" came Marisa's boisterous voice. "Incident resolvin' team!" 

"Huh!?" came the other, unfamiliar voice. "You can't just barge in here with a group that big!!" it seemed Marisa's attitude had only made this pink-haired girl even more hesitant to let them through. 

"Sorry about her, Sara," came Alice's calmer voice. "But please let us through." 

"Good morning, thanks for all your hard work Miss Sara!" Kutaka waved cheerfully. 

Reimu heard a huff of resignation from the pink-haired girl, Sara. "Thanks for all your hard work too, Miss Kutaka." 

"Pardon me..." Youmu sheepishly mumbled while the group made its way through the gates into Makai. 

All of this blurred through Reimu's subconsciousness, she had barely even realised that Kutaka had for-some-reason also joined their group. All Reimu could think about was that call she had been sensing from Makai all these months. A place she hadn't visited in _years_ , save for a brief dip in during the Palanquin Ship Incident. 

So why? Why _now_? 

She had briefly passed the entrance to Makai during the Animal Realm incident and thought it looked familiar... Was that all it took for this ‘curse’ to imbed itself? 

Eventually, the cave through Makai's gates opened up. Reimu reflexively held her hand to shield her eyes from the light, "G-gah... since when was it so bright here?" 

"Finally back with us, Reimu?" Marisa floated to Reimu's side and nudged her arm. 

"Makai doesn't look nearly as strange as I excepted," Youmu noted, looking around with a bright glimmer of fascination in her eyes. "This just looks like a huge village!" 

Stretching out in front of the group was a sensible, red-brick road surrounded by banks of well-gardened green grass and flowerbeds. All manner of demons and youkai walked and floated along the roads, some holding bags of groceries, others enjoying the weather from charming wooden benches dotted along the roads. 

The sound of rushing water brought Reimu's attention to a river running beneath an arched bridge. The bridges, the slate-topped buildings, they were all made of red-brick as well. 

Sure it was familiar, but... had Makai always been this... _pleasant_? 

Alice held her nose up high in quiet pride in response to Youmu. "This is Makai City. Romantic western-style architecture contrasts with the brilliant blue sky at day, complimented by a red sky at night that demons adore! Mother is so very proud of it." 

"M-mother...?" Reimu winced. Her heart sunk into her stomach, for a reason she still couldn't figure out. 

"My mother?" Alice said, placing a concerned hand on Reimu's shoulder again. "Shinki, the god of Makai?" 

"You're really out've it today Reimu," Marisa shook Reimu lightly. "Maybe we should rest before we keep lookin' around?" 

"I think that's a good idea," Alice concluded. "Let's make stopping in at the castle our first priority for now." 

"W-wait," Reimu held her hand out in objection. "I'm fine, just getting my bearings. It's been a really long time." 

The others waited patiently as Reimu took a deep breath in. She closed her eyes, centered herself, and breathed out. 

The air may have been thick with the miasma of all the magic creatures that lived here... but there was no denying... it felt good. 

All right, get it together Reimu. It wasn't like her to get so shaken up, ever. She was fine, this was just another incident, and progress was finally being made! Now that she was in Makai, she'd be able to find the source of the curse. Easily. 

"First of all," Reimu said, her voice steady again. "Why did you guys kidnap the chicken lady? Hasn't she got more important things to do!?" she spun around on the spot and pointed inquisitively at Kutaka. 

Kutaka merely responded with a reassuring smile. "I guess you didn't hear before. I'm just sticking with you all to make sure you find what you're looking for. After all, it’s my responsibility that you all crossed over to this world!” 

"And _I_ said," Alice continued. "That Kutaka need only watch us until we meet with mother." 

"Guys," Youmu frowned. "I think she's already stopped listening-" 

Sure enough, Reimu had already started to wander from the group. 

Almost as if in a trance, she marched down the brick road. With purpose she headed in the direction of the endless hills of green on the horizon – towards the city outskirts. 

"Reimu!!" Marisa shouted after her. "Tch, what's _with_ her lately!?" she scowled, crossing her arms. 

"Hey, aren't you worried?" Youmu said, giving Marisa an uncertain stare. "I've never seen her like this before." 

Marisa sighed, trying to calm herself. "Of course I'm worried," she said. "But we're all tryn'a help, so I'm just kiinda exasperated here." 

"Then let's go after her," Alice gave Marisa's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Mother will be able to help her, I'm certain of it." 

Reimu's eyes fixed on the horizon. That horizon, stretching away from the city, away from Pandaemonium... the wild landscapes of Makai she hadn't seen since she was a child... it was all so hauntingly familiar. 

Picking up her walk to a brisker pace. Running. Taking off and flying. 

Reimu headed down a sloping ridge outside the city. The river that flowed from the city tumbled into a spectacular waterfall right over a seemingly bottomless abyss, but Reimu simply flew over the chasm towards the mountains on the other side. 

The further she flew, the more unstable the ground appeared to become. The green hills and mountains seen closer to the city deteriorated more and more into juttering shards of land floating in the air, untamed, unmolded, appearing to have no landscape to call home. 

Waterfalls plunged from the endless sky above, cascading through uneven hills or falling directly into the abysses below. And yet Reimu flew on. 

Green grass became blue. Blue grass became purple. Or perhaps that was simply the way Makai's sun shone through these thick clouds of ghastly miasma? And still, Reimu flew on. 

Then... there! Reimu’s heart skipped a beat. 

In the distance. _It_ finally started to come into view. 

What the hell... 

"Hey!" 

What was _it_? Reimu squinted, fixing her eyes ahead. Between the chaos of floating purple hills and mountains, she started to make out what looked to be the remains of a structure. Glistening debris and rubble hung eerily in the air, white stone pillars barbed out almost randomly from suspended landmasses... 

"Reimu!?" 

What _was_ that? Why were there ruins of structures all the way out here, in the forgotten wastelands of untamed Makai? Still Reimu headed deeper, heading deeper... Deeper... 

" **HEY!!** I'm _talkin_ _'_ to you!!" 

A hand violently snatched her wrist, tugging her to a slow. 

"Huh?" 

Reimu blinked, finally snapping her out of trance. She turned to look at the grip to see Marisa hurtling alongside her on her broomstick. Marisa was scowling. 

"We've been chasin' after you for like an hour now! The hell's gotten into you, Reimu!?" 

Reimu paused, noticing herself. She stopped flying, looked around her in realisation, and her expression apologetically drooped. 

"... Sorry. 'm sorry." 

Silently, Reimu threw her arms around Marisa’s back with a thwump. 

She hid her face in Marisa’s shoulder, and she held on tight. 

Marisa’s eyes quietly widened. She returned the gesture with a squeeze. Then, she edged away and put a hand on Reimu's shoulder. "Think we can sit for a bit, so the others can catch up?" she asked. 

"... Yeah, okay." 

Marisa led Reimu towards a fairly open field, filled with that eerie, purple grass. The sun was still out and the sky still bright, but the way it fell on this grass through the miasma was unnerving. 

Marisa ducked down to get a closer look at the foliage while they waited for the others. "Man, this stuff's surreal. This grass is like... alive, but it's totally grey. Like the colour's missin' from this place." 

Reimu simply sat on a rock with her legs crossed. The sun's purple light didn't make her own red and white robes any less striking, but even she could tell that the purple rock she was sat on was actually just a dull, grey rock being coloured that way by this surreal air. 

"... You've never been here before, Marisa?" Reimu asked. 

"No?" Marisa replied, plucking a few strands of grass from the ground and rubbing them between her fingers. They fell stiff into the air, like they were no longer affected by gravity. "... Why. Have you?" 

"... I feel like I have." 

It wasn’t long before Youmu reached them, followed closely by Alice and Kutaka. 

"Reimu, seriously!" Alice sighed. "I wish you'd waited for us to meet with mother, she'd be able to help you without you going in blind!" 

"I've never needed your mother's help with incidents back home," Reimu said. She opened her mouth to say 'who needs parents?', but she took one look at Alice's irked expression and bit her tongue. 

" _I_ _do_ need Lady Shinki's assistance though," Kutaka said, balling her fists on her hips and strutting towards Reimu, eyes lidded in irritation. "I need to be getting back to work, but instead I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere babysitting a bunch of lost chicks." 

"Never said you had to come," Reimu stared her directly back. "That was all you." 

Youmu slipped in between Kutaka and Reimu, defensively waving her arms with a stiff grin. “You’ll have to forgive her Miss Kutaka, being considerate isn’t really her strong suit!” 

Reimu fell silent. 

She had the tendency to be dense about this sort of thing, but yeah, it had finally dawned on her that she was causing a _lot_ of trouble for everyone. 

Even though they were all just trying to help her. 

A long, awkward silence fell. Alice and Kutaka quietly discussed what they wanted to do, while Marisa and Youmu watched over Reimu. 

"I've... never seen anything quite like this," Youmu finally interrupted the stiff silence, stepping her shoes gently to the strange, grey grass. "It's not dead... but it's like it's totally lacking in life. It's creepy..." 

"It is," Alice physically shivered. "Come to think of it, I don't know if I've ever been this far out into Vina myself," she said, figuring she might as well make conversation. 

"Vina?" Marisa piped up. "What kinda place izzat?" 

"I... I only know that it's the name of this region," Alice elaborated. "Mother knows all about it of course. A ruined, broken place... I've heard it was once so beautiful..." 

Marisa hupped to her feet and took a hasty stroll around the small hill they were sat around, feeling the wind of miasma bouncing emptily off her skin. "An’ you said you've been here before, Reimu?" 

"What!?" Alice jolted shocked eyes towards Reimu. "When!?" 

"A long, long time ago," Reimu replied calmly, still keeping her eyes trained around the ruins she could faintly make out in the distance. "I don't actually remember it at all. It's just a feeling." 

Marisa knew that Reimu's memory was a little more selective than her own, but the fact that Marisa herself had no memory of this place at _all_ meant Reimu had probably been really really young when she came here. The more Marisa thought about it, the more worried she became that Reimu had some kind of repressed childhood trauma related to this place.

She approached Reimu's side. "So... ya think this place is it? The place that's got you afflicted with somethin'?" she said. 

Reimu quietly nodded. Even she didn't understand it, but her anxiety and her intuition were finally agreeing for once. 

Whatever was calling out to her was here in Vina somewhere. 

As the group talked, the sky started to rumble with a dense tension like thunder clouds. Darkening hills gave everyone the indication that the sun was probably going to go down soon. 

Marisa hugged up to Reimu. She shot Alice a look, and Alice promptly came to cuddle Reimu’s other side. 

"We're here for you, you know Reimu?" Alice mumbled into Reimu's ear. 

"Whatever this is," Marisa bounced off her. "We're here to help you through it, no matter what." 

Another quiet nod from Reimu. She bit her lip. A quiet tremble ran through her body just as another loud rumble ran through Vina’s deep purple clouds of miasma. 

Youmu gave the trio a fond smile, but didn't feel comfortable joining in on the group hug. Instead, she figured she'd try to sensibly move things along. "So, we're probably here at the source of the incident, but we don't know a thing about it and everything's all weird and funky. Do we have a plan?" 

Tension in the miasma begun to occasionally burst, sparking up the sky like lifeless fireflies. 

"Well, I really should get back to my post..." Kutaka said stood, impatiently tapping her foot to the ground with her hands on her hips. "I still vote we get back to Lady Shinki." 

"I do think that's a good idea too, Reimu," Alice said, giving Reimu a gentle squeeze. "We can come back to Vina any time, but it's best to know what we're up against." 

Reimu’s stomach lurched. She felt Marisa gently nudge her in the direction of Makai City. 

"N-no!" Reimu suddenly broke her own silence. "I have to go. It's calling me, she's calling to me! She's so close I-" 

"Reimu," Marisa held her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. 

Reimu's quiet tremble had become a physical shiver, the sky gradually rumbling more and more loudly, densely. 

The sky cast darker and darker, plains and mountains becoming such an empty purple that even they appeared almost as black as night itself. 

"Uhm. Uh," Youmu firmed her feet on the ground, steadying her hand on her sword. "I don't mean to make anyone panic, but does anyone even know the way back to Makai City from here? I cannot sense any signs of life at all, and it's pitch black when I close my eyes." 

"Reimu, you know the way back right?" Marisa said, holding her friend by the shoulders. But the more she tried to hold Reimu still, the more violently Reimu trembled, the more she tried to push towards the ruins. "Reimu! You with us!?" 

"Marisa you have to let me go! I _have_ to go!" 

"Uhh Ali? She's not _listening_ to me!" 

"I-I can see that!" Alice panicked, quickly soaring to the air as lightning begun to discharge with increasing frequency. "Uh, look, if we fly high enough and get above the clouds, I'm sure we'll be able to see the lights of Makai City-" 

Marisa snatched Reimu's wrist hard, but Reimu tugged Marisa back with all her might. "C-can someone help me out here!?" Marisa shouted, all while the sky rumbled furiously at them. 

“Let _go_ of me!” Reimu yelled, trying to wrench herself free. “She’s calling to me! Let me _GO!!_ ” 

"Wh-what the hell is going on out here!?" Kutaka's eyes darted around at the shifting landmasses all around them, appearing to slowly break apart before their eyes as she and Youmu sped towards Marisa. The three grabbed onto Reimu, trying to pull her higher towards the clouds. 

"No!" Reimu fought. “NO!!” she screamed. She protested, pushing against the three of them with all her might. "I need to- or she’ll--!! Mom! **_M-MAMA!!_ **" 

"S-snap out of it, Reimu!!" Marisa yelled in her ear, her own voice trembling in anxiety at seeing Reimu like this. "What's any of this got to do with your mom!?" she continued to shout, but it was like Reimu couldn’t even hear her. She could hardly even hear her _own_ voice over the sound of the sky, rumbling and roaring so loudly that it sounded like it could come crashing down. 

“M-my-!!” Reimu choked, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. “Give me back _my_ **_MOTHER!!_ **” 

"What was that, Reimu? Marisa!?" Alice shouted down to them in confusion from the clouds. "Did I hear you say 'mom'!?" 

Then... the world fell grey, and for a moment, everything stopped. 

"Call for me, dear, and I shall appear!" 

!? 

A bright, white light suddenly overwhelmed Reimu's senses, cutting through the noise. The rumbling, the visions, the screaming in her mind all, finally, fell silent. 

Blinking, Reimu realised that the unnerving landscape around them had somehow become filled with a brilliant, vibrant colour. What seemed to be a huge hole in the sky had been severed open, in the shape of six, devilish wings. 

And within the colour and light spreading from these wing-shaped holes, was a tall woman. Impressive red dress and long, white hair tied in a single ponytail at its top, and she seemed... familiar. 

"M-mother!!" Alice cheered in relief, flying towards the woman and crashing into a hug with a loud **-thump-**. 

"Hah-… hahh!" even Kutaka breathed loudly in relief. "Lady Shinki, what an impressive entrance!" 

Shinki and Alice floated gently to the ground together, magnificent colour spreading like an orb from Shinki's person as they touched down on soft, blue grass. The familiar whirrs and calls of bat youkai could be heard from all around them, the sky painted a gorgeous golden green in the setting sun. 

With a fond smile, Shinki dotingly tilted her head towards Alice, and held her daughter's hands in hers. "It’s good to see you, dear. I do wish you'd told me beforehand that you planned on visiting such a weird place, though!" 

"Mother...!" Alice's voice cracked slightly as she let some more huffs of relief out of her system. Things had... actually seemed pretty scary for a moment there. 

Once again, Alice threw her arms around her mother and shoved her face into the comforting frills of her long red dress. "Stop trying to sound cool..." she mumbled, making Shinki giggle. 

Reimu felt a tug on her wrist, and she turned to see Marisa smiling sheepishly at her. "You good?" Marisa asked. 

"... Yeah," Reimu nodded. "Thanks." 

"Is that Marisa I see over there?" Shinki's welcoming tone travelled over to them. "Come and say hello to your in-law, won't you?" she said, making poor Alice blush furiously. 

Without much hesitation, Marisa tugged Reimu over to Shinki and Alice and threw her arms around both of them. "Heya, Alice's mom." Marisa grinned. 

Reimu had only a few seconds to stand around looking confused before Shinki and Marisa's arms had ensnared her in the increasingly dangerous group hug as well. 

Though she had to admit... it felt nice. 

"Oi, Youmu!" Marisa beamed excitedly at Youmu, who had been shuffling her feet awkwardly, not sure who exactly this new stranger was. "Get _over_ here!!" 

"O-okay!!" Youmu blurted out, obediently rushing over and joining the embrace as asked. 

She felt extremely awkward, but her expression betrayed a person who really loved warm hugs. 

Perhaps everyone felt too awkward to break the hug, or perhaps they genuinely appreciated this moment of comfort after that chaotic confusion and shock back then. For whatever reason though, Shinki continued to embrace Alice, Marisa, Reimu and Youmu for a good couple of minutes. 

"Miss Kutaka!" Shinki spoke over the cuddle to Kutaka, now stood politely by herself. "So good to see you, how are you?" 

"I'm very well, Lady Shinki." Kutaka said in steadfast response, giving a small bow of respect. 

Shinki beamed a warm smile at Kutaka, before gesturing her line of sight towards the group hug. "Do you want to... you know. Get in on this?" 

"I appreciate the offer ma'am but I'm on the clock-a-doodle-doo," Kutaka replied sensibly. 

"My, really?" Shinki said with a surprised blink. "But you look like you could use it..." 

"It's okay, really. I just work here." 

"Get over here, chicken lady," Marisa cackled. 

"Wa-wait!!" Kutaka blushed brightly, waving her hands in panic as Marisa dashed out and dragged her into the mess of arms. " _Wbaaaaawc_...! ... Oh, this feels really nice actually..." 

"My my, what am I going to do with you girls?" Shinki chuckled to herself. "Though the truth is, I've never felt so powerful. You are all so hopeless aren't you?" 

"Yup," Marisa replied, without a hint of irony or shame. Alice rolled her eyes. 

Alice had actually begun to feel a little self-conscious about the whole thing. She fully expected it was only a matter of time before Reimu made a fuss about not wanting fuss. 

... But, Reimu actually looked like she needed this more than any of them. 

Well, either through awkwardness or to save her poor mother from doting on a bunch of essentially-strangers, Alice started to show meek resistance to being ensnared. "M-mother, whilst we very much appreciate the hug, we are in dire need of help." 

"Yes, I can see that dear." 

Her tone was gentle, but carried an air of faint disapproval. Alice felt a quiet guilt at having worried her. Trying to quickly move the subject on, Alice said, "How did you find us, anyway? And what exactly _is_ Vina? This place seems more sinister than I ever realised." 

A sigh more pensive than Alice was used to hearing from her usually cheery mother escaped Shinki's lips. After one more surprisingly protective squeeze around the group, Shinki's expression fell solemn. 

"I can explain most everything you need to know," she said. 

Reimu caught Shinki’s eyes looking directly at hers in particular, and her stomach churned. 

"... But first, we _all_ need some rest - and I won't hear a word of protest from a single one of you." 

There was no time for anyone to object. Before anyone had even noticed anything was happening, Shinki had engulfed the group in its entirety. 

Shinki's six great wings, the very demonic wings she used to craft and mold the world of Makai to her whims, covered each and every one of them with their gentle light, while she held them securely in her arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chicken lady!
> 
> I was really excited for an opportunity to write Kutaka, she's one of my favourite WBaWC characters and I think her small role here is vibrant and fun.
> 
> But I was able to include Kutaka in the first place because I had this idea of connecting WBaWC's lore to pc98's lore... which is honestly one of first big ideas that got this fic going in the first place.
> 
> In Touhou 1 HRtP, Reimu uses a cave in Mount Hakurei to go to either Hell or Makai. But in WBaWC, the protagonists access Hell via Higan, and in that area of Hell there is also a wormhole to the Animal Realm... so I thought, what if they were the same place? What if a portal to Higan's checkpoint between otherworlds simply used to exist in Mount Hakurei? It'd make sense for Higan to have access to The Netherworld too, since Yuyuko also works for the Ministry of Right and Wrong... so I just came up with this idea that the Checkpoint of Oniwatari is also a port to many otherworlds.
> 
> Even if it's still kinda under construction. I'm sure Shinki will achieve her dream of Makaian tourism in Gensokyo someday.
> 
> But yeah! Makai! Were you surprised?  
> Reimu has been led to believe all this time that something happened to her in Hell or the Animal Realm, but the source was somewhere out the corner or her eye, somewhere she hasn't been since she was young.
> 
> Shinki is a very popular pc98 character and also one of the characters widely seen as being mom-like, so her having a role in this story about family is a perfect fit in many ways. Alice and Shinki's relationship, combined with the fact Shinki is from Makai where the bulk of this story takes place, made both of them perfect fits actually.
> 
> Either way, I was really happy I finally got to write Shinki. The scene where Shinki hugs everyone is a scene I like a lot, both for how warm and relieving it is and how silly it is. She really flexes her mom powers after flexing her god powers.
> 
> Anyway, not only did I try to bring Makai into modern Touhou lore, I also introduced a focus on a rarely explored part of Makai: The Ruins of Vina. A place from Touhou 1 with a mysterious name... it's always kinda intrigued me. If it wasn't obvious by the end of this chapter, Vina is a key location in this story. You may have correctly speculated that Chapter 1 unus was also set in Vina.
> 
> If you're sad that Shinki interrupted when things were getting exciting, don't worry; the plot thickens even more when the next chapters come out in a few weeks. See you then!
> 
> \--------------  
> Glossary:
> 
> Animal Spirit Incident - the incident in Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature.  
> Palanquin Ship - A ship that flies through the air, used by the disciples of Byakuren Hijiri. It became the Myouren Temple, but it can transform back into a ship whenever Byakuren wills it. In Touhou 12 UFO, Byakuren's followers told Marisa she could ride it whenever she wanted.  
> Palanquin Ship Incident - Referring to the events of Touhou 12: Undefined Fantastic Object  
> Pandaemonium - A fortress in Makai where Shinki lives.  
> Sanzu River - a river that the departed are ferried across to reach their judgement in Higan, and the next life.  
> Sara - The gatekeeper of the portal to Makai in Touhou 5: Mystic Square. She got a cameo!  
> yama - A judge of the deceased, who decides which life the departed will head to depending on their karma and deeds. In Touhou, Gensokyo's yama who waits in Higan is called the "Yamaxanadu", and her name is Eiki Shiki  
> Wbawc - The sound chickens make, obviously


	7. quattuor

"You're certain you only need a few needles?"

Reimu was just barely tall enough to peek over the counter at the absurdly tall man on the other side. His name was  Rinnosuke Morichika ,  Reimu had been to see him a few times with mama. He was a weirdo who ran a shop full of weird things, but he was nice,  Reimu supposed.

"That's right,"  Reimu's mother responded with a nod. "I tell  you, I've gotten so used to fighting in Makai nowadays that my equipment just lasts forever!"

Rinnosuke placed a few sets of needles, which tumbled to the counter with a series of clinking sounds. After that, Reimu’s mother handed some money over to him. 

"I must say, I'm very impressed that you haven't needed to bring your  gohei in for any kind of repair work in the last few years,"  Rinnosuke mused inquisitively. "Either you hardly ever use it, or you're far more responsible than you used to be."

" Oh it gets plenty of use," Lady Hakurei tilted her head with a smirk. "There are devils lurking around the Ruins of Vina, did you know that?"

"I've never even heard of it,"  Rinnosuke chuckled to himself, obscuring a quiet glint of intrigue behind his glasses. "Though if you find anything interesting from this 'Vina', please bring it to me. I'd love to have a look."

"I'll keep it in mind," Lady Hakurei smiled sweetly. She gave Reimu's hair an affectionate ruffle, then turned to leave.

"Are you sure I can't examine your  gohei , Miss Hakurei?"  Rinnosuke weakly objected, reaching out to touch the  gohei the Hakurei held in her hands. "I must confess I have rather missed your custom over the last few years-"

Rinnosuke's hand briefly brushed the  gohei before the Hakurei could object. She rolled her eyes at him. "You've always been a little grabby with things that interest you, haven't you  Rinnosuke ?"

"Miss Hakurei..."  Rinnosuke furrowed his brow. He stared the woman directly in the eyes and pushed in the bridge of his glasses. "I must state my concern to your safety, this isn't the  gohei I made for you. In fact, this is just a normal staf-"

" ReiRei sweetie, why don't you go pick out something weird from the shelf?" she interrupted him.

"Awesome!"  Reimu sprang back from the counter and ran behind it.

"Hey  hey hey ,"  Rinnosuke , successfully distracted, followed behind  Reimu and slowed her by the shoulder slightly. "You can't just take anything you see, all right? Some of it isn't for sale."

"Okeydokey old man."

"Old m-!?"

Ouch. Even Lady Hakurei had to admit that  Rinnosuke looked very young for his age. With an adoring smile, she watched as Rinnosuke eventually settled Reimu down with what looked like an old book of star constellations.

Rinnosuke finally returned to the counter, his inquisitive gaze fixed anxiously on Lady Hakurei, and gestured his head aside to urge her to talk. With a sigh, the shrine maiden began.

"I... do  apologise ,  Rinnosuke . The truth is I haven't been using your services lately because I have a deal with someone in Makai. My power is tied to them nowadays, and my  gohei is currently broken. So, this one is just..."

"For appearances,”  Rinnosuke realised . “I see.”

But the disappointment on poor  Rinnosuke's face was palpable, perhaps even comparable to heartbreak. There was no way Lady Hakurei couldn't feel guilty about avoiding him and lying to him like this.

"I-... I see,"  Rinnosuke repeated to himself.  Finally he sighed, readjusting his glasses and sitting back down at the counter again. "I can't say I'm not saddened to have lost your custom. I  _ would  _ ask what a  Makaian is doing making gear for a shrine maiden, but I am-..."

"Yes, you are half-youkai yourself," Lady Hakurei shrugged apologetically. "I truly  _ am  _ sorry, Rinnosuke. It was... not a decision I made easily."

Reminding himself that Lady Hakurei had indeed been having a rough time of it lately,  Rinnosuke thought it best not to push the subject further. Instead, he found his eyes wandering over to young  Reimu .

"And the reason you don't want  Reimu to know is...?"

"Because I still want you to be the one to prepare her very own  gohei when she is ready,  Rinnosuke ."

Rinnosuke's eyes widened. " So, you truly do mean...?"

"Yes, I find the  gohei you prepare for the Hakurei to be genuinely unparalleled in both  Gensokyo and Makai.

“And were it up to me... if I had my way...

“... Well, it would still be seeing plenty of use."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on new chapters, some stuff came up last week. Still, I'm hoping the wait will have been worth it.
> 
> A short flashback this time.
> 
> Writing Rinnosuke is always a delight. It's been a long time since his appearance in "A World Without You" and I think I enjoyed writing him even more this time. Maybe someday I'll give him a bigger role?


	8. cIVilisation of magic - Sariel

By the time Shinki’s light finally faded, the group opened their eyes to find themselves safe within the walls of Pandaemonium. 

"Pandaemonium!?" Youmu had exclaimed in quiet panic. It was a word that invited notions of ‘chaos’, after all. However, ‘Lady’ Alice airily recited an explanation that it was simply the name of her mother's castle at the center of Makai, and Youmu's mood quickly changed to one of excitement. 

It was Youmu’s first time seeing Alice's old home, and you certainly didn't see castles like _this_ in Gensokyo. 

But this temporary excitement ultimately failed to offset the heavy mood. There was still one thing on pretty much everyone's minds. 

What exactly _happened_ back there? At... ‘Vina’? 

Perhaps the only one who didn't seem remotely shaken by what had just happened was Kutaka. Apparently even birdbrains could grow used to seeing bizarre and dangerous things if they worked with Hell closely enough. 

... No, that probably wasn't the complete truth, either. 

_Everyone_ in Reimu's group had seen their fair share of horrors throughout the years. 

This time it was just... personal. 

Alice reached the doorway to the large guest room and stopped. She held back a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"Something the matter, Alice?" asked Yumeko. A heavy tray assorted with teas, coffees and treats was held perfectly still in her expert hands. 

Alice had just been helping Yumeko prepare refreshments for the group. Her family still had no idea what anyone's tastes were - beyond Marisa's of course - so Alice had left her friends for a short while in order to help with snacks. 

And she'd returned to the doorway to see her friends all sitting separately. 

To say they looked a little forlorn was putting it lightly. Marisa was sitting alone on a large plush couch, Youmu stood politely beside an ornate pillar to the side of the room. 

Reimu, though, was sitting at a chair beside the windowsill. She stared longingly, emptily outside at Makai’s red setting sun, chin slumped into her hand. 

Alice sighed anxiously. "They're just... not normally this gloomy, sister. It's a little difficult to see." 

"Want me to pick a fight with one of them?" Yumeko asked, setting cups and plates around the snack table and beginning to pour tea. "It's been a hot minute since I last threw a sword at Marisa," she smirked playfully at the magician. 

Marisa responded with nothing more than a sheepish smile and a shoulder shrug. 

Yumeko's eyes darted to Alice, "Yeah, that looks pretty bad." 

"Right?" Alice sighed. 

As Alice pensively leaned her cheek into her palm, Youmu approached the sisters and gratefully took a cup of tea in her hands. 

"Uhm," Youmu began, eyes looking nervously down at her cup. "You... throw swords?" 

Yumeko analysed Youmu through the corner of her eyes while she continued to prepare tea. Her eyes travelled curiously to the hilts on Youmu's waist. "... Yes, I do," she spoke emptily. 

Still, Alice could have sworn she spied Yumeko's eye glint when she noticed Youmu’s swords, accompanied by a faint twitch of her lips. 

And without warning; "That's incredible!” Youmu suddenly burst to life. “How in the world do you manage something like that!?" her eyes glowed as she talked, her fists clenched excitedly as she gawked at Yumeko. 

"!?" Yumeko reeled her head back. She stared wide-eyed at Youmu, trying desperately to pretend she wasn't blushing. "Ahem, well! It's-" she stroked her chin, quickly regrasping her composure. Yumeko unsheathed a sword from behind her apron and held it confidently, almost dotingly, across her hands. "It's true that it's difficult and required years of training, but I am Lady Shinki's greatest creation after all. You’ll find that it is just one of my _many_ talents." 

Youmu nodded excitedly, but who knows how much she actually listened to. "Do your swords have names!?" she yipped happily. "Swords with names have incredible stories to them, don't you think?" 

"Uhm, uh," Yumeko stammered, pulling out another few swords and looking at them all. "Actually I've never really thought of that-" 

Alice couldn’t help but finally feel a little relief that Youmu's mood had improved; thanks to her usually-unfriendly sister of all things. She giggled. 

Unfortunately though, that moment of relief was quickly interrupted. 

"I-I think I should go," Reimu declared, getting up from her chair with a stomp. Her tea had at least been sipped on and a cookie partially munched, but... 

"Reimu, please get some rest," Alice pleaded. "We're all worried-" 

"So I need to get this over with so you'll all stop being worried," Reimu asserted. She was palpably anxious, but still showed no signs of backing down. "If Shinki’s too busy to help, I’ll just go." 

Just as Alice and Yumeko edged forward to try and stop Reimu’s march though, the guest room’s doors flew open once more. 

"Oh?" Shinki's airy voice drifted into the room. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" 

"Vina," Reimu said, crossing her arms with pouty indignance. "Usually we charge right in and resolve incidents right away, so I'm not used to being interrupted." 

"And I'm not used to guests turning down the wonderful refreshments that my strongest creation toiled so lovingly over! Please, sit." 

The appeal to Reimu's gratitude was effective; Reimu could hardly complain about the rudeness of her own guests if she was a rude guest herself. Tamely, she returned to the table and gulped her tea down. Shinki smiled sweetly, still stood in the doorway. 

"... She still calls ya that? Her 'strongest creation'?" Marisa smirked at Yumeko while Yumeko poured her tea. "She's just yer mom, right?" 

Yumeko blushed. 

"She _likes_ it," Alice crossed her arms and echoed Marisa’s smirk at Yumeko . "It makes her feel _cool_." 

"Shut up." 

"So you’re like one'a them chuunibyou, I getcha," Marisa said. A giggle finally escaped Marisa's lips, and Alice smiled - she felt an important part of her heart thaw. 

But the relief was brief; at the sight of Reimu restlessly stomping back towards Shinki, Alice again fell anxious. 

"... Thank you for the tea and snacks, but I need to go," Reimu said, bowing just slightly. 

Marisa grimaced. 

Shinki tilted her head at Reimu. "I did say I would tell you all about that place, didn't I?" she said, thoughtfully poking a finger to her cheek. "How's about a deal: if you stay for dinner and a bit of sleep, I'll tell you everything I know. 

“About Vina... and about the ancient youkai that lives there." 

… ' _Youkai that lives there_ ' 

Reimu’s eyes thumped wide in their sockets. 

She clenched her fists, making to move. "... I'm not hungry," she said. “And I don’t want to involve or concern anyone else anymore, this is my problem.” 

Alice and the others all stared in disbelief as they watched Reimu march dauntlessly past Shinki's flowing red dress. Alice clutched hands to her chest, Youmu stared at the ground, Yumeko scowled... and Marisa clung trembling fists at her side. 

Shinki, however, merely shut her eyes and wore a gentle smile. 

"It concerns your mother." 

And Reimu stopped. 

Well, more like Reimu paused. But it was a significant pause, one that captured the room's horrified silence such that it felt like a tiny eternity. 

“... All right,” Reimu said. Then, she kept walking. 

"W-wait! You _moron_!” Marisa shot to her feet and yelled through grit teeth. “Why won’t you let us help you!?” 

"I’m just going for a _WALK_ ," Reimu shouted back. “I... need some air.” 

As the sounds of Reimu's steps faded down the hallway towards the castle's doors, Shinki smiled gently at everyone else. 

"Thank you, mother..." Alice breathed a loud sigh of relief, smiling warmly. "You really did us a favour there," she said. Alice looked to Marisa, whose red face stared solemnly at the ground. 

“I have a feeling she would have stayed anyway,” Shinki nodded a smile to Alice, then to Marisa. 

"Dinner won't be long... you must all be starving," she said. After another soft head-tilt, she breezed out the door and headed the other direction down the hallway. 

"I'll be going to help prepare dinner then," Yumeko said with a light bow. She begun to gather up the empty teacups and plates, before turning to Alice. "... It's your job to look after your girlfriend, Alice." 

With that, Yumeko left the room. 

"... O-oh wait up!" Youmu, suddenly realising her new sword-friend had left, hopped up to follow her. "I can help and show you my swords at the same time, this one’s called Roukanken-..." her voice trailed into the hallway. 

Finally, Alice and Marisa were the only two left in the room. 

Giving Marisa a glance and a tired smile, Alice let out a sigh and leaned into her girlfriend’s side. Then Alice leaned a little more heavily, and finally eased her arms around Marisa. 

"Hey... are you all right?" Alice asked, patting Marisa's back in her gentle embrace. 

Marisa nodded against Alice's shoulder. 

But then a tiny, helpless squeak escaped Marisa's mouth. Alice felt her heart sink. 

“Marisa...?" 

"U- _ugh_...!" Marisa forced out, her voice cracking. Alice bit onto her lip, hiding her own welling eyes over Marisa's shoulder. "UGH!" Marisa let out a pained screech. Alice felt Marisa’s fists clench tightly to the backs of her clothes. She held Marisa tightly in her arms. 

"Th-the hell _happened_ back there?" Marisa muttered, trying to maintain her composure. But she clenched her fists in Alice’s top, buried her face in Alice's shoulder, and screamed; 

"The hell's her **_problem_ **!?" 

A stiff silence followed. Marisa waited hopelessly for answers, but Alice didn't have any. 

All Alice could do was hold her. 

De-escalation... she could at least try that. 

"She's going through something awful, isn't she?" Alice said, stroking Marisa's hair. 

Alice felt Marisa's back and arms quietly trembling in her embrace. Words of frustration and anger bubbled up inside her, words she chose not to air. Instead, for a moment of tense quiet, all Marisa could manage were heartbroken squeaks. 

"... The way Reimu tried to force past me back then... in Vina," she eventually mumbled. "The way she screamed. That horrified look in her eyes." 

All of this sounded almost surreal to Alice, who had always seen Reimu as closer to... frustratingly aloof. Alice’s memory of the scene was hazy; she had only watched from far above, but she still had to admit Reimu’s behaviour at Vina was strange. 

"I saw her reaching out towards the ruins as you three went to get her. She was trying to get to the ruins, or something?" 

"Like her life depended on it," Marisa replied, trying to remain calm through her quiet shaking. "No composure, not a drop of her usual intuition just... tryin' to _force through us._ With this brute-like strength and... _desperation_.” 

"That doesn't sound like her..." Alice held onto Marisa tightly, trying to reassure her that her concern was reasonable. It would perhaps have been easier to tell Marisa she was ‘worrying too much’ and ‘everything was fine’, but... 

If anyone could be trusted to know Reimu, it was Marisa. 

"It's not, it's nothin' like her," Marisa shook her head against Alice's shoulder. A jittery, panicked shake. 

"Reimu 'n' me fight an’ argue durin' incidents all the time but she's always got this cocky grin or confident frown. This... it was like she was in a rage. Even without usin' any of her powers, Youmu, Kutaka 'n' me could barely hold her back between the three of us." 

"Any ideas what it could be yet?" Alice asked cautiously. "She was shouting something...?" 

“Yeah,” Marisa replied. “She was screamin’ for her mom.” 

There was an air of disbelief and gravity in her words, but her body continued to tremble under Alice's grip. “She screamed like I’ve never, ever seen before.” 

‘ _Her mother?_ ’ Alice pondered. "Come to think of it... it was mother mentioning Reimu's mother that made Reimu calm down just now, wasn't it?" Alice said, trying to speak reason into being, even though her _own_ head was overwhelmed with confusion. 

An uncertain silence followed. Questions flooding both of their minds, Marisa and Alice stood quietly in each other's arms for a long few moments. Alice heard another muted moan from Marisa's throat and a muffled sniff from Marisa’s nose, Marisa’s fists clenching tighter. 

"... 'm scared, Ali," Marisa's voice trembled. "I'm so scared I-" her voice cracked, her throat pushing up stuttered whimpers. 

"I've never, ever seen her like this before Ali. Ever since I met 'er when we were kids I- _I-_ ” she stammered. “I _dunno_ _what to d-do Ali-...!!_ " she choked as panicked words tumbled from her throat. 

Marisa pushed her forehead against Alice's shoulder and hugged her arms around Alice's waist, as shaken, heartbroken sobs coughed their way up from her churning stomach. 

Her attempts to maintain her composure giving way, Marisa held onto Alice and cried. 

And it was all Alice could do to bite her lip, bite her tongue, bite her own tears back. 

Marisa had always, always been such a bright, lively person. A beacon of earnest optimism and excitement. Someone who always tried to make Alice smile, even in her darkest days. 

Seeing her like this... it was genuinely difficult for Alice to handle. Even imagining the worry and fear Marisa felt for her best friend was heartbreaking. 

Reimu hadn't behaved this unusually for this long before, that much was certain. Reimu... wasn’t okay. 

So as Marisa clung to her and cried against her, Alice just had to force herself to take another deep breath. She just had to maintain her own composure... for Marisa's sake. For both Marisa and Reimu's sakes. 

Gently placing a kiss on the side of Marisa's head and stroking her hair, Alice finally broke the silence that had been filled with Marisa’s sobs. "Hey, honey?" she asked. 

"M-mmh?" Marisa choked in response. 

She sniffed and lightened her grip on Alice slightly. Alice pulled back from the hug and took Marisa's hot hands in her own, then stared earnestly into her girlfriend's bright red, tear-soaked face. 

"Reimu's your best friend, right?" Alice asked, squeezing Marisa's hands. 

Marisa nodded. "... 'f- of course she is," she nodded again, tears still trickling from her eyes. 

"Then..." Alice muttered, leaning her forehead gently against Marisa's with a smile. "Even if Reimu behaves like a stranger, you've been the closest thing she has to family since before I even met you both... 

“She needs you to be strong for her, now more than ever." 

"A-Ali..." Marisa hiccupped, gripping Alice's hands back and nuzzling her forehead against Alice's. "Wh-what if I can't?" 

"You will be, because she needs you more than any of us," Alice gave Marisa a confident nod. "You be strong for Reimu, and I'll be strong for both of _us_ , all right? I'll be here to catch our tears for you until all this is over." 

Marisa forced a stiff giggle... then giggled for real. She played a little with Alice's wrists in her hands, then pulled her head back and smiled a teary smile at her girlfriend. 

"Y'can't just say you'll cry for me an' expect me to feel better, Ali," Marisa beamed. Finally... a smile. 

"So you say, but your cheeks are already looking livelier," Alice said. With a doting gaze, she brought a finger to gently wipe tears from Marisa’s cheeks. "You've probably cried up an appetite too, so let's go feast on my family's amazing cooking, shall we?" 

Pulling her arms back, wiping her own eyes and drying her cheeks with her wrists, Marisa nodded and grinned. "It's been tastin' even more amazin' ever since Yumeko stopped tryna poison me, too," she joked. 

"There's our beloved Marisa Kirisame," Alice smiled. 

Overcome with quiet relief, she leaned over and gave her precious Marisa an adoring kiss on the cheek, before taking her hand and tugging her in the direction of the dining hall. 

To everyone's relief, Reimu did seem to collect herself over the following hours. 

Shinki's offer of a proper meal and a full explanation was enticing enough to keep Reimu's mind from whatever the hell had happened at Vina. A little space and an admittedly incredibly warming and satisfying feast of sublime stews and fantastic fruits had more than helped Reimu to think things over. 

In fact, the food lifted spirits enough for Reimu, Marisa, Alice and Youmu to banter and joke amongst each other, almost like everything was normal again. Almost like the tension Reimu had been feeling with everyone all day could be ignored... if only for a short while. 

So, much-needed clarity of mind helped Reimu to separate her normal behaviour from how she had felt today. On the other hand, just how quickly her mood had changed the moment Shinki mentioned her mother brought with it new questions and doubts. 

Most significantly, her questioning over the very nature of this 'incident'. 

Reimu was a shrine maiden. Sure her methods and livelihood were a little unorthodox at times, but she was still a shrine maiden - a pretty _good_ shrine maiden. 

So what kind of incident was _this_? Her head felt like it was falling into turmoil over questioning her pride as a shrine maiden versus her own personal issues. 

That is; the more Reimu ruminated on it, the more she couldn’t help but wonder how a ‘curse’ this significant _could_ be untraceable to so many people. 

That is; the more Reimu ruminated on it, the less it seemed like a curse at _all_. 

The less it seemed like an _'incident' at all_. 

… But whatever. 

Right now, all Reimu really wanted was to hear about what exactly the Ruins of Vina had to do with her mother. 

By the time everyone had gathered in the castle assembly hall, Reimu had recollected enough of her composure to be the one to break the silence. 

"Uh, before we begin," she said, "I genuinely wanna thank everyone who helped out today, especially at Vina. I know we _usually_ charge right in and go with our gut in incidents and stuff, but uh..." 

Reimu paused, blushing slightly, before rubbing the back of her head and continuing. 

"I guess you were all going with your gut worrying about me anyway, so... I'll call us even." 

Marisa, Alice and Youmu all wore similar, stiffly amused smiles. ' _Yup, that's_ _Reimu_ _,_ ' they thought. 

Looking over the girls with her own amused smile, Shinki glided to the ornate chair at the head of the room. "All right, then... is everyone comfortable?" she asked, getting settled herself. 

'Comfortable' was perhaps asking for a lot; everyone seemed palpably anxious and jittery, _especially_ Reimu. 

It would have to do though. 

At Shinki's invitation, Reimu began to explain _everything_. 

Thanks to her chance to see some clarity, she didn't miss out a single detail this time. She explained that she had been having nightmares ever since her last visit to the Higan checkpoint. She explained that these nightmares had become more intense to the point where the memories and visions of them were undermining her day to day life. 

Reimu even brought up details of her dreams that Marisa and Alice hadn’t heard before, only suspected. 

"Ever since I started having these dreams, I've been thinking about my mother more and more often." 

A familiar voice. A smile she couldn’t place. 

And those _words._ Words Reimu couldn't stop replaying in her mind, over and over. Words she could have sworn had only grown louder as the Ruins of Vina called out to her. 

"I've found you, ReiRei. I see you." 

“I’ve _got_ you, Reimu.” 

“ _Now, until the moment you die._ ” 

The entire time, the others could only look on with fascination. Watching the words flow from her was almost cathartic, and the catharsis Reimu felt herself was undeniable. Reimu wasn't _entirely_ sure why she so suddenly felt like telling the whole truth, when she had been so anxious and hesitant all this time. 

Perhaps now that everyone had come all this way, now that Shinki had confirmed that her mother and the Ruins of Vina _were_ related... only now did she feel like there was no turning back. 

"Well then... well then. Where to begin..." Shinki hummed. Reimu, fully satisfied with her own explanation for the first time, sat down with a weighty, relieved sigh. 

Shinki’s eyes fell shut. She delicately lifted her teacup from its ornate saucer and took a silent sip, then set it down with a gentle klink before speaking. 

"What do you all know about the Ruins of Vina? Alice, dear?" she asked Alice first. 

"Only what you've told me in the past, mother," Alice tilted her head, trying to recall what little she knew. "That it was a once-beautiful land, now ruined and forgotten." 

Shinki nodded. "Indeed," she replied, "and that is more or less where most Makaians’ knowledge on Vina begins and ends.” 

A restless Marisa rose slightly towards Shinki from where she was sat. "Uh, I don't really get why a place you created yerself can jus' be left forgotten like that." 

Makai’s creator gave a sheepish head-tilt, then said; "Vina is... not my creation." 

Her words were met with quiet disbelief from the group. Marisa’s own surprise sent her slumping back down onto her posterior. 

But Shinki seemed almost a little _proud_ of herself for the reaction she had gotten, a giggle sneaking from her lips. "Allow me to explain,” she went on. “Vina is a place that has lost its meaning, a remnant of a lost civilisation that I discovered when founding Makai. A civilisation I have since frozen in time to preserve its memory. 

"H-hang on,” Alice said nervously. “Makai... wasn't always Makai?" 

"That's not entirely true either," Shinki went on: 

"Makai is the realm of demons, brought into existence by the belief that many of the evils that find their way to outside worlds _must_ come from a world of their own. By extension though... Makai can also be considered a place that the evil and banished must still exist in once they can no longer exist in the lands they came from.” 

Everyone stared at Shinki, squinting in confusion. Marisa shuffled her hat on her head. Youmu stared cross-eyed at the ground. 

Shinki sighed, "I will explain from the beginning:

"This world, a domain of evils and demons, has always been here. I was the one to give name and form to a shapeless chaos, a chaos of discarded places and beings that were not accepted in the realms of reality. 

"By giving that chaos a name, I turned that limbo of the banished into a place. I created Makai from pure pandaemonium, giving those lost ideas and creatures a home. 

"But so, so many misunderstood things have been cast aside and branded 'evil' over thousands of years of reality's selfish, power-hungry societies - did you know? Not even _I_ can ever be fully sure just how far the limbo of chaos stretches through the endless space of Makai.” 

Shinki’s tone fell a little wistful as she spoke, and a stiff silence hung over the room. That feeling of being overwhelmingly small, a spec in the scheme of the universe... everyone suddenly got an idea of just how massive ‘Makai’ truly was. Youmu looked a little flabbergasted, but Reimu couldn't help but feel that Makai actually had a decent amount in common with Gensokyo despite its incomprehensible size. 

"Anyway! I digress.” Shinki clapped with a cheery smile. “That sums up precisely what Vina is... or was. An entire civilisation banished completely from reality long, long ago.” 

Looking over still-confused faces, Shinki tried to engage the audience a little more. "So does anyone know what ‘vina’ means? Anyone?" 

"Sounds like Latin," both Marisa and Alice noted at the same time. They exchanged grins and giggles; years of reading magical tomes were one of the things they had in common. 

"That's right," Shinki hummed, leaning her cheek on her fist, "vina is Latin for wines." 

"'Ruins of Wine', Reimu said, “no wonder I wanted to go there so bad.” A facetious joke to be sure, but it was enough to make Marisa clutch her stomach in muted laughter, so Reimu felt a little proud of herself. 

With a friendly chuckle of her own, Shinki continued. "I don't know how much you lot know about Latin, but put one and one together and it's easy to figure out that Vina was, in fact, an ancient Roman civilisation." 

"They got labelled evil 'cus of _wine_!?" Marisa yelped. "That's seriously messed up!" 

"Not quite!” Shinki giggled again. “The Romans actually loved their wine, shush and listen, all right? 

"Vina was once a beautiful place, named after its rich vineyards that produced alcohol so brilliant and potent that it became celebrated across the Empire. Artists who relaxed in Vina found their spirits lifted, their creativity lubricated, thanks in large part to the almost fantastical wine of the region. 

"Those in the region experienced such inspiration that some called it the work of the divine. Some even began to deify the beauty and creativity of Vina, claiming that the natural inspiration seeping from its lands must have been the work of God or His emissaries 

"And of course, as you all know... faith and truth have a complex relationship. The people of Vina believed with all their hearts that their land was special, that their land was one blessed by angels, watched over by one of God's archangels themselves. 

"And thus through the might of faith, it became that it was true. It became that Vina had been beloved and venerated among the angels, one of whom was a great archangel of God." 

"Judging from the forgotten state of it though," Alice said, "I'm... guessing it wasn't all happily ever after." 

"Indeed..." Shinki continued with a sad smile. "Just so easily as faith had blessed Vina with angels, so as easily did faith tear Vina's veneration away." 

"As was common at the height of the Roman Empire, many with seats of power were unhappy... jealous, perhaps, with Vina's perceived significance among the artistic and spiritual. 

"And so at the very peak of its influence and fame, the narrative around the ‘truth’ of Vina was heinously twisted. 

“With almost no effort at all, Vina became known across the Empire as the 'Civilisation of Magic'. 

"The Archangel of God, she who had adored Vina and its people with such pride, was made to take its fall. Discarded, along with the entire land." 

Shinki finally concluded for now. Once again lifting her teacup from its saucer, she peered curiously at her audience. "And that is... more or less... how poor Vina, banished from glory, discarded from history, fell in its entirety into the demon world of chaos that would one day become Makai. 

“Any questions yet?" 

Alice and Youmu’s eyes had both been fixed with fascination on Shinki as she concluded. They fell back slightly, scrunching their mouths as they tried to think of a question to satisfy their now-burning curiosity. An entire region, once venerated by the ancient Romans, had ended up drifting alone in the void because the people turned against it. How weird _was_ that!? 

But Reimu's eyes were glazed-over and lost, a nameless nagging in her stomach, while Marisa on the other hand wasn’t all that impressed. 

"One questionnn," Marisa hummed, playfully shooting her arm up. "Outta everythin' you just told us about Vina, pretty much nothin' has anythin' to do with Reimu or her mom. Did you jus' take us on a wild goose chase?" 

"Marisa..." Youmu said with a pout. She was admittedly a little torn, because she, for one, had had a _fantastic_ time. 

"You kids-" Shinki begun. 

"Not kids," Marisa interrupted. 

"You kids _wanted_ to know what Vina was," Shinki continued, "and I told you. Perhaps you don't see it as terribly relevant just yet, but it is merely the precursor to the story I am about to tell. 

"This is the story of the Archangel who fell with Vina... and whom became one of Makai's first great youkai. 

"This is the story... of Sariel." 

…!! 

Reimu's eyes sharply focused, her stomach lurched, her whole _body_ leaned subconsciously forward. 

Sariel... _Sariel_.... 

Reimu had... heard that name. 

She _knew_ that name. 

But before she had time to dwell on the hows or whys; Shinki began. 

* * *

There once was an Archangel, as adored as she was mighty. 

Blessed with grace for the rich land of Vina and granted this authority by God, she watched its people tenderly. She doted on them from the heavens as if they were her children. 

Known for her love of creativity and of play, Sariel helped to cultivate a Vina filled with people who spread their wings and made one-another happy through their own expressive freedom. 

Vina’s magnificent green and blue landscapes, bright white stone and marble architecture, wine so brilliant that it was unmatched throughout the land... 

Sariel felt certain that she had truly found her purpose within faith's great cosmic destiny. 

But just as soon as eternal happiness seemed within her grasp, Sariel's destiny was snatched away from her. 

She had fatally underestimated the cruel perfidiousness of humans. 

Enraged in jealousy by the joy and beauty of her domain, religious leaders spread lies that Vina had become a tainted, sacrilegious 'Civilisation of Magic'. 

Those with power moved to distance themselves from Vina as the horrible rumours that would defame it and its Archangel spread. They said that she would lead good men astray with the potency of her wine. They labelled her artistic works 'Demon Bowls'. They claimed they had been filled with incantations which would set horrible demons to feast on the heads of mankind. 

The magic of Sariel’s civilisation was described as an aggressive, evil magic that tempted Vina’s happy people towards sin. And Sariel, their scapegoat, was branded a fallen angel. They began to call her an Angel of Death. 

Any and all citizens complacent in the wicked sorcery of Vina's alcohol and charms were disgraced as blasphemers. Some were slaughtered in witch hunts, others forced to surrender their love for the region and leave it behind for their own safety. 

The other angels of Vina, too, turned against their leader in order to escape faith’s inevitable wrath. 

And, being at the mercy of that human faith, Sariel could do nothing to stop it. 

Betrayed by the faith that had given her so much joy, abandoned by the very people she so doted on, Sariel was consigned to a fate worse than death. 

Struck from the passages of history, Vina fell into rumour, then into myth. 

A ruinous place of monsters, ruled over by a horrible, vengeful Angel of Death. 

But despite being deigned a fate as a vengeful fallen angel, and despite the form of her faith thrusting her with a dark form, Sariel could still not forget the love that remained in her heart, nor the longing she felt to be there for others. 

Thus, even as she drifted through the boundless abyss of the forgotten and discarded, Sariel still knew herself. Sariel grew to instead love and cherish the monsters and demons that had come to populate her domain. For a time, Sariel believed she had found a new purpose. 

But, as the rumours and myths of Vina began to fade entirely from the canals of history, so too did Vina begin to be eaten by the chaos. 

Sariel, still remembered as an angel, was able to hold on to her form. But she wept for Vina. 

Its beautiful vineyards and fields drained of memories, its buildings crumbled and forgotten. 

The land she was once so proud of now little more than rocks floating through space, Sariel shut herself away in her temple and spent her days in mourning, too grief-stricken to watch her domain die. She seldom left her chambers, only ever doing so as a great youkai. A great youkai who would soar through the lonely chaos of this limbo, hunting and preying just to keep her beloved demons living for just a little longer. 

Until one day. 

The drifting, forgotten Ruins of Vina were happened-upon by the recently-appointed god of this realm of chaos - a realm the god had called Makai. 

With her great wings, the God of Makai offered a kind hand of friendship out to Sariel. 

Though while Sariel pleaded with all her heart for Vina to be saved, all that could be done was to freeze it in time and preserve what little of it still existed. 

Sariel, however, was still grateful. 

A new lease on life, away from the cruelty of humans, Sariel was once again able to watch over the few remaining demons of Vina she so treasured. 

Finally free to live a life of freedom and companionship once again in Makai, Sariel made many new friends. She became known across Makai as a wise, gentle woman. Many, including myself, were proud to call her a friend in return. 

But amongst all of Sariel's new friends, there was a woman Sariel adored and cherished above all others. 

A human from Gensokyo, by the name of Hakurei. 

* * *

"!!" Reimu keeled forward, a nervous yet excited smile teasing onto her face. 

Marisa’s expression almost mirrored Reimu’s as she excitedly grabbed onto Reimu's side and shook her. "H-hey, Reimu!!" Marisa yelped excitedly, "I bet that's your mom! She was good friends with that angel lady, huh!?" 

"She was indeed," Shinki said with a nod. 

Reimu toppled even further forward, almost stumbling to a stand. "W-wait, Shinki, you knew my mom, too!?" she stammered excitedly. 

"It was difficult for me to _not_ know her," Shinki sighed, leaning wistfully into her hand. "Your mother did so much pest control and incident-resolving in Makai back in the day, it was both a terrible nuisance and a big help to me... I mean _honestly_ , was Gensokyo so boring that she had to come stick her nose in my business all the time-?” 

Reimu and Marisa both squinted at Shinki for a few moments amid her sudden tangential rant. 

"A-ahem!! Anyway!" Shinki awkwardly remembered herself. “Your mother and Sariel did everything together, they were nigh-inseparable. But a Hakurei shrine maiden and a great youkai... you can imagine they had to meet in secret. Still, it got to the point that whenever your mother visited Makai, I knew that she would immediately head to the Fallen Temple of Vina." 

Marisa's eyes appeared to light up with awe. "Your mom was a rowdy youkai exterminator and befriender just like you, Reimu! Ain’t that awesome!?” 

But Reimu's eyes remained trained on Shinki’s expression – one of pity and melancholy. And Reimu's stomach churned with a nameless uncertainty. 

Shinki gazed up, to the twinkling stars that appeared to decorate the spectacular ceiling of her great hall. She took another deep breath before continuing. 

"Unfortunately, as you may have guessed... the story does not have a happy ending either." 

* * *

In all her centuries of loving humans, dwelling on her betrayal by humans, resenting humans for their cruelty towards creatures of faith like she and her demon companions... Sariel never once imagined that she would, after all that time, find her equal in a human. 

But she had. 

Though her land remained frozen in time, her identity cosigned to history as an angel of aggressive magic who had fallen from grace, Sariel had _never_ felt more alive than she did at Lady Hakurei's side. 

Many a spring and summer Hakurei spent absent from Gensokyo, solving 'incidents' in Makai as an excuse to frolic in its fantastical blue fields and golden starry skies with the angel whom she got along so perfectly with. 

Many a fall and winter Lady Hakurei spent, enjoying precious time in the angel's Fallen Temple, just the two of them and each other. 

And every time the God of Makai spied Lady Hakurei and Sariel enter the temple together with such joyous smiles, they would exit with equally joyous smiles many hours later. 

And the God of Makai knew that this was certainly the happiest Sariel had ever been, in all their years of knowing each other. 

Yet... as with every other high of Sariels' long, tumultuous life... 

So too did this happiness change one day. 

The arrival of Hakurei's firstborn was a moment of such great bittersweet for both women, but especially for Sariel. 

Lady Hakurei, unwilling to leave her child alone in Gensokyo. Sariel, a great youkai unable to join her in Gensokyo. 

Two soulmates forced apart by a bittersweet understanding that the child deserved the best life her mother could give her in this cruel world steeped in betrayal and monsters. 

And though Hakurei and Sariel were still able to meet occasionally over the years of the child's formative life, it appeared that the frustration at being unable to see one another inevitably began to show cracks. 

For a time, every time the God of Makai spied Lady Hakurei and Sariel enter the Fallen Temple together with such joyous smiles, they would still both exit with equally joyous smiles many hours later. 

Yet those smiles hid great, great pain. 

Yes, I, the God of Makai, confess to having heard arguments coming from the Ruins of Vina on a number of occasions, as the skies became dark with foreboding. 

And finally, one day, the God of Makai spied Lady Hakurei and Sariel entering the Fallen Temple together with tired, bitter smiles. 

... And on that day, only Lady Hakurei emerged. 

And on that day, Lady Hakurei wore an expression that I had never seen on her before. 

And after that day, I never saw her in Makai again. 

* * *

Shinki paused, turning her sight again towards the stars that decorated the hall's sky. Reimu's eyes remained fixed on her, deep in thought. Shinki took a deep breath, and stared back at Reimu. 

"It would be a fair few years before a Hakurei showed her face in Makai again." 

It took a few moments, but Reimu realised that everyone's eyes were on her. Oh, Shinki was referring to her, huh. 

"D-don't look at me!" she stammered. The eyes of the others self-consciously scattered, but Marisa continued to pout wistfully in Reimu's direction. 

"So what happened to Sariel?" Alice asked, in attempt to relieve Reimu of attention for the moment. "You made it sound like she had a big presence in Makai, but I don't know if I remember anyone like that?" 

"You will have met her when you were a little girl, dear," Shinki replied. "She would come to parties at the castle on occasion. Ahh she _did_ so love to get all dressed up, sometimes I could hardly even recognise her! Putting all those rumours of 'leading people astray' to good use, I suppose..." she chuckled nostalgically.

Shinki paused for a moment before sighing, a hint of sadness then underlining her tone. "After Lady Hakurei left Makai for the last time though, Sariel also made herself scarce; she hid herself away in her temple once again. The few times I saw her outside of Vina, she was headed to Gensokyo." 

"G-Gensokyo!?" Reimu yelped, rising from her seat. 

"Yes, sometimes for many days at a time, and sometimes she would return looking quite exhausted or hurt," Shinki continued. "It was never any of my business, but I must confess I harboured some concern for the situation." 

No... no... this was hitting far too close to home for Reimu's comfort. She hadn't known _any_ of this. Why would an angel like Sariel look to pick fights in Gensokyo...? 

U-unless... 

Reimu tried to swallow down her anxiety, but anxiety continued to bubble. The more relentlessly it threatened to bubble up, the more Reimu struggled to ignore it. 

Carefully watching Reimu's anxious face, Shinki smiled gently. "Well, it matters not, Sariel can no longer go _anywhere_ ," she assured, rising to a stand and signalling that her tale had reached its conclusion. "Around two decades ago, she was sealed away in her Fallen Temple by the power of Hakurei, and no one has seen her since." 

No longer able to hold still, Marisa excitably drummed her hands on her knees and shot to a stand. "Y'hear that, Reimu!?" Marisa said, shooting her a grin. "Sounds like we're finally gettin' ta the bottom of this!" 

"You think?" Reimu muttered. She held her chin in her fingers, looking pensively at the ground. "Throw me a theory." 

"Sariel's got a grudge against yer mom, and she's gotten inta yer head to force you to come let her out?" 

"I-I dunno..." Reimu objected quietly. "A grudge? Really?" 

"Grudges can be quite powerful," Youmu said, giving Reimu an intense, steadfast nod. "I would say it's certainly possible." 

"Sounds pretty solid to me," Marisa nodded to the group. "Reimu's old lady sealed Sariel away 'cus of their fighting, Sariel got herself a grudge. It adds up, an’ it's the most solid thing we've had to go on all day." 

Getting up, Shinki walked past Marisa and playfully ruffled the big hat on top of her head. "I've told you what I know. What you kids decide to do about this incident from here is up to you." 

Marisa stood at Reimu’s feet and flashed her a confident smile. Reimu returned her own, uneasy smile. Marisa held out her hand and pulled Reimu to her feet, before smacking Reimu on the back. 

Marisa seemed pretty confident. So why... 

Why couldn't Reimu shake the feeling that... there was something else she knew. Something she was _forgetting_ about. 

Reimu couldn't bring herself to reply, a cruel doubt lingering in her guts. That this just didn't add up. 

She caught Shinki's gaze in hers... caught a hauntingly knowing glance, one that only intensified the churning in Reimu’s stomach. 

Shinki must have noticed this, because she warmly placed a hand on Reimu's shoulder before speaking gently to her. "Whatever you all decide to do, I _do_ recommend spending the night here. You will have much more ease freely investigating Vina in the daytime, when the power of Makai’s magic is at its weakest." 

She glided towards the hall's grand doors, where Yumeko greeted her with a bow. 

Yumeko, who had been patiently fronting the doors during the entirety of Shinki's story, stepped forward. "Lady Shinki has seen to it that you all have appropriate rooms. I shall escort you to them; follow me." 

Shinki had implied it was an option, but she sure seemed insistent. Alice and Marisa, both very evidently concerned, were also eager to agree that proper rest was a pretty great idea for now. 

Still, obvious concern aside, the general mood of the group did seem a little lighter now. After weeks, maybe even months of Reimu's strange behaviour, dots had finally started to be connected. The truth of Reimu's affliction was just within reach! 

Reimu noticed this, and part of her felt relief that she perhaps wasn't weighing as heavily on everyone's minds as she had been earlier. 

But unless a good night's sleep did something about this horrible, nagging doubt in her guts... her own mood certainly wasn't any better. 

In fact, the longer she dwelt on those holes and differences between Marisa’s theory and her own memories... the more terrified she became. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention this in the Ch6 notes, but one song I listened to so many times while brainstorming and writing Vina is "Wonder Panorama" from Mega Man ZX; especially the ZX Tunes version. That mysterious, beautiful, lost world vibe of the track is the main creative feeling behind my interpretation of Vina, and I hope I was able to capture it. If you haven't heard it before, give it a listen while reading about Vina in this fic and see what you think!
> 
> Anyway, LORE. I love Vina.
> 
> So I kinda advertised this fic as giving "ZUN-like worldbuilding" to pc98 stuff. In particular, I was talking about Vina. Vina is definitely one of the main attractions of this story. Sariel too, of course.
> 
> Vina and Sariel's backstories in this fic are almost entirely my own creation. I wanted to give both Vina and Sariel that Touhou-style link to real world mythology, but also giving them a sympathetic Touhou twist as well as pulling them into Touhou's mechanics of faith and otherworlds. I'm actually really proud of how it turned out, and I've become much more attached to Sariel as a character as a result.
> 
> So of course, this chapter is also the first time we explicitly find out a lot about Sariel herself, though her involvement in the story has been a mystery alluded to since point one. From her backstory it's easy to want to sympathise with her, regardless of her involvement with this story's incident and Reimu's visions. I wonder if she's growing on any of you too?
> 
> Either way she's very evidently a major character in this story, and now she has a Touhou-like backstory that fits her in nicely with modern Touhou canon.
> 
> This chapter also introduces Yumeko, and I love her.
> 
> I'm really proud of my portrayal of her, and she immediately makes a great foil to Alice, Youmu and Marisa. Their dynamics all bounce really well and I hope you enjoyed them!
> 
> Speaking of Alice, she had a bigger role in this chapter too. She wants to help her anxious friends to settle into her home, and she gives her girlfriend some much-needed emotional support and encouragement. I really loved writing that little MariAli scene, I hope it helped to further drive home just how much Alice, Marisa and Reimu care about each other after all these years.
> 
> Oh yeah, and I was pretty happy with the idea that Alice and Marisa are both familiar with Latin too. It felt like something bookworms studying ancient magic like them would be familiar with.
> 
> I'm hoping the next couple of chapters will be up two weeks from now like usual. Things will keep on accelerating from  
> this point as the climax draws nearer, if you've been enjoying it so far you'll definitely like what comes next.
> 
> As always, I'd *love* to hear any thoughts or reactions you have on my portrayals of Vina and Sariel. See you soon!
> 
> \----------------  
> Glossary:
> 
> chuunibyou - also called "eighth-grader syndrome", it's characterised by those who act like they have secret powers and such. To put it another way, people who act like anime characters IRL.  
> Demon Bowls - a bowl inscribed with magic, that used to be used to trap demons. This aspect is loosely inspired by the angel Sariel from Judaic mythology.  
> Pandaemonium - A fortress in Makai where Shinki lives.


	9. ⵕUIṈⵕUE

"ReiRei! Are you ready?" 

"I'm not ready yeeet!"

"Heavens, keeping me waiting so long... this had better be good!" 

An assured grin spread from cheek to pink cheek, and Reimu scrunched her eyes shut with excitement. Of course it would be good! It was going to blow her socks off! There were so many good places to hide around the shrine that Reimu felt really spoilt for choice, and one of these days she'd prove once and for all that she was the best there is at Hakurei Shrine hide-and-seek. Better than her mama _ever_ was. 

From her hands and knees, Reimu flopped down onto her elbows. Her white robes would maybe get messy again, but mama wouldn't be cross. She'd be too impressed by Reimu's hiding place for that. 

Flattening her little body down to the dirt beneath the shrine's raised foundation, Reimu crawled deeper into the dark. 

It was amazing down here. There were all kinds of weird tracks from animals, some cool bug nests, and some mud splatters that Reimu couldn't help but suspect maybe belonged to youkai. Youkai her mama had quickly exterminated, she was sure. 

Yes, Reimu wasn't down here to hunt for youkai. There'd be plenty of time for hunting later, when she wasn’t playing or training. She was down here for hiding! 

Reimu passed by that worn patch of dirt she _usually_ hid in. She had used that spot so many times that both she and mama now knew it by heart. So that wouldn't do anymore. She eased deeper into the crawl-space, towards the thicker pillars towards the center of the shrine's underbelly. 

Splish. 

"Eww, yuck!" Reimu reeled back her soggied elbow. Her back bumped against the bottom of the shrine in shock, but she was too tough to notice. She was more bothered about the big muddy puddle she hadn't seen. 

... Hang on a minute, why didn't her head bump into the bottom of the shrine? Reimu craned her neck around and squinted, trying to adjust her eyes to the dark... and those dark eyes sparkled at what they had discovered. 

"Was that always there?" she asked herself out loud. 

Slowly hoisting up from her hands and elbows, Reimu peeked herself through a board that had fallen from the bottom of the shrine. 

Dark... super dark. And _musty_. It wasn't a secret passage into the shrine itself, which was actually a relief. Hiding inside the shrine would be way too easy for mama. 

Reimu felt her way around a little, slowly rising from her knees to a stand and rising through the loose boarding. Then, she hoisted herself up through the hole, and sat. 

She dangled her legs through the hole and had a little look around. There was actually a lot of space up here... Was it some unused space between extensions to the shrine building or something? 

Well, whatever. Reimu hupped her legs up through the hole and tried to stand, getting her balance. 

Then, with an excited, adventurous grin, she began to feel her way through the dark. 

The further Reimu crept through the weird, drafty corridors between the shrine's walls, the more it felt like a big adventure. She felt for corners in walls, originally going with her gut before doubling back a little and deciding it would be best to hug the left wall and plot out a map in her mind. 

The clud, clud, clud of the foundation boards she walked along slowly began to crunch beneath her soles. Probably where years of sawdust had piled up, or maybe where some naughty animal had made its nest years ago. 

But the ground began to feel softer. An unfamiliar sensation suddenly bristled Reimu's fingers instead of the wall-like feeling, making her pull back in reflex. She sniffed her hand. 

"That's funny..." she noted, putting her hands on her hips. "Smells like tree bark." 

Once again squinting her eyes to try and adjust to the dark, she could see the flickering of light streaming through in dozens of little beams. It looked almost like how light trickles through a tree canopy. 

… Grrrulu gulu gulu... 

Ahh... Reimu's tummy was rumbling. Time to take a break. 

Reimu sat herself down, backed against the bit of the corridor that felt like a nice cool tree. She expectantly patted down her robes... 

"Darn," Reimu grumbled out loud. "If I'd known I was going on an adventure, I would have packed a snack." 

Reimu instinctively touched at the ground around her... a soft feeling prickled her finger... grass? 

"How cool... it's like there's a hidden passage to the forest, underneath the shrine," Reimu smiled proudly at herself. "This is the perfect hiding place. I'll wait for mama here." 

So Reimu waited. 

Fascinated in her discovery, Reimu found it easy to pass the time. Her eyes were finally adjusting better, and she could make out what definitely looked like trees and foliage. She couldn’t even see the shrine anymore! 

The grass that she'd poked at earlier was near a tall mound of dirt and leaves that Reimu thought must have been an old nest. Mysteries were there to be solved, and so Reimu cast a little light magic and neared her finger to the nest. 

Scuttle scuttle scuttle. 

"!? H-hello...?" Reimu crossed her eyes, got down onto her knees and crawled towards the sound. "This is my house, you can't live here little bug." 

Scuttle scuttle scuttle... scuttle scuttle. 

How rude! Reimu giggled to herself, and neared her finger to the mound. 

Suddenly though, Reimu’s finger felt a painful prick. "Y-YAH!" she leapt back in shock. 

She then noticed a black blur of thin, pointy spindly legs from the corner of her eyes; it looked like it had gotten onto her finger! "A-aah! Ah!!" Reimu shook her hand frantically, jumping back and retreating to the safety of the tree, definitely a tree and not a wall, she was sat under before. 

Reimu, a little dejected, looked at her finger. There was a little dark mark on it... she put her finger in her mouth, but a sudden sharp pain hit her tongue and she jerked her hand out again. 

"M-maybe... a weird bug youkai," Reimu tried to reassure herself. 

… Grrrumble... gulu gulu gulu... 

Reimu curled her knees up to her chest and decided to just sit still until mama found her. Her mama was great at hide and seek _AND_ at youkai hunting, so she'd definitely help Reimu sort out this little incident. 

Come to think of it, shouldn't mama have asked Reimu if she was ready yet? It had been at least another ten seconds since she last asked. 

Reimu would wait just a little while longer. Mama would probably call for her any minute now. 

... 

No word? Maybe mama had forgotten to ask if Reimu was ready, and just started looking for her right away. The grumbling in Reimu's stomach started to weigh more heavily... she started to impatiently tap her shoes on the ground. 

Reimu looked to the sky and squinted. She could no longer see the sun shining through the trees, which she could have sworn she’d been able to see up until now. 

"Mama I'm readyy!!" Reimu called out to give her mama a hint. If it was getting dark out, she really should be getting back before the youkai come out. 

Rustle rustle... flutter flutter. 

"... Mama?" Reimu called out again. 

Crick crick... _snap_. 

Reimu jerked her gaze to the source of the sound and noticed leaves falling. She spotted a shadow whisk across the top of the canopy with a swooping sound, briefly blotting out what remaining light there was in the dark blue sky. 

"M-mama!! Can you hear me!?" 

Reimu stumbled to a stand, her back grazing against the tree slightly in her panic. She darted her eyes around. 

Flutter flutter, fluflufluf. 

Shadows continued to dart around overhead, the light beating of wings causing Reimu to tense up. A youkai? A youkai!? _Here_!? 

Reimu didn't like this hiding place anymore. Swallowing her resolve, she began to creep back in the direction she came... 

Snap. 

A twig cricked beneath her shoe and Reimu's heart gasped. A whip of endless white flashed before her eyes, and a rebellious screech of shock bellowed from Reimu's throat. She clasped her hands to her mouth to cover it, but the finger that the bug youkai bit hurt her lip, and she yelled again in pain. 

"I _fooound_ you...~"

Reimu jumped, her heart jolting with such distress that she fell back and hit her elbow on the tree. Her eyes fell to the sky as she stumbled, catching a dark shadow of white lunging at her. 

"NO!" Reimu screamed, vaulting herself to the side. Somehow avoiding the figure's vicious swoop, Reimu turned and ran. 

Reimu felt scratches and snaps of twigs and thistles as she dashed through the brush with every ounce of adrenaline she had. Every time her mind chanced the thought of stopping and hiding, the fluttering and beating of wings pushed her forward. Timp timp timp, crack, _snap_ , fwoosh , _fwoosh_ , the sounds of Reimu's frantic dashing and the youkai hunting her were the only things she could hear, they dominated her consciousness. 

She couldn't even find the strength to turn around and hold her ground, to proudly proclaim to the beast that her mama would exterminate her if anything bad happened. 

"I see yooou!"

' _No, no!!_ ' Reimu's mind screamed at her, her throat panting more and more desperately. She ran down the corridor she had explored earlier, but she couldn't find the way home. She shot her eyes skyward to see the dark blue sky, populated with dizzying stars, that ominous beat of white wings casting shadows that drew ever closer to her. 

"AHH!" Reimu's foot slipped backward as a stick rolled out from beneath her, leaving her hands and chin hurtling to the ground. "Ooph!" Reimu wheezed, but she didn't have _time_ to fall, she forced herself back to her knees and scampered forward at a crawl, because the crickling and fluttering of the youkai was closer than ever. 

"Mama!" Reimu yelled. "MAMA!" Reimu screamed. 

She clenched her fist and pulled herself to her feet, tears welling in her eyes. " _MAMA!! Where are you!?_ " 

She bumped through the dark, crunched through leaves, thudded her feet through endless narrow paths of dirt. Where was the way out? Where had she gotten here from!? Where- 

There was no ground. 

Reimu's foot failed to support her, stepping, falling through thin air, sending Reimu's body hurtling to the ground again. " _OOF!_ " she wheezed, winded. 

Her arms trembled. Whimpering, she tried to push herself up, when she noticed a bright light out the corner of her eyes. 

Darting her eyes around, she noticed a glowing, rippling white figure staring up at her from... the... ground? 

A head coated with a shining mane of white. Six great, horrible white arms sprouting from her sides. The shining monster stared at her with a wide smile. 

No eyes... no nose... just that horrible, familiar, unfamiliar smile. 

And the youkai's horrible arms reached out to her.

"Reimu!"

"NO!" Reimu screamed, scrunching her eyes shut in fear as she felt arms ensnare her torso. "Let me GO! **_LET ME GO!_ **" her tiny little voice roared and protested and struggled as hands gripped her securely.

"ReiRei, Reimu, sweetie, it's okay!”

Paralysed with confusion, her mouth agape, Reimu's eyes eased open. 

“It's me, it's okay..." 

Daylight trickling underneath the shrine's raised foundation revealed her mama's familiar, red and white robes. Mama's silky black hair. 

"M-mama..." Reimu squeaked, her eyes quickly brimming up with tears. "Mama!" her voice trembled. She threw her arms around her. 

She felt her mama's warm, strong hands stroking her hair. She nuzzled her face into the safety of mama's robes. "You sound like you've been on quite an adventure, little one," her mama said. 

Reimu nodded into mama's arms, then pulled back slightly and wiped her wrists across her face. The tears from her cheeks, the snot from her nose, she sniffed and wore her strongest smile. "Y-yeah... there was a hidden forest under the shrine, and I got chased by a youkai... but I got away." 

"And all within a few minutes!” Mama giggled, plucking a handkerchief and wiping Reimu’s messy cheeks. “I have to admit this was an awesome hiding place. You're a natural adventurer, ReiRei. _And_ so _brave_ ! Someone _very important_ always used to tell me ‘you must be brave’ when things were hard for me... I'm sure she would be proud of you too." 

Her words were music to Reimu's ears. 

Reimu squeezed herself into the hug and smiled, feeling mama's own comforting smile on her cheek. A little pain in her finger pricked as she squeezed mama's clothes though. 

"O-ohw!" Reimu yelped in surprise, pulling her finger back. "I got bitten by a weird bug youkai too, see," she held the finger up to her mama's knowledgeable gaze. 

"Oh dear, let's get a look at that," she replied comfortingly, casting some white light on the finger to get a better look. "Ouch, what a nasty looking splinter! It's not totally safe between the walls of the shrine, so be careful okay?" 

"Yes, mama..." Reimu nodded with a pout. She was still pretty proud of herself though. 

"Now let's get a closer look at that... turn around and give me your hand, all right?" 

As instructed, Reimu turned away so her mama could more comfortably hold her hand. 

Flutter flutter... _thwimp_. 

A bright white teased at the corners of Reimu's eyes, and they widened in shock. 

There, in the ground again... no; the puddle she had fallen in earlier! There in her own reflection, eyes wide with horrified realisation, she saw it. 

A white glow engulfing her own body. Four great white arms... no, wings, ensnaring her. 

She felt feathers against her skin. She saw white strands of hair fall over her face. Paralysed with terror, Reimu’s eyes trembled as they fixed on the puddle's horrific reflection. 

" _I've got you,_ _Reimu_ _,_ " the featureless figure's mouth spoke in her mother's voice. The mouth smiled into her cheek. 

"M-mama... wh-what have _you done with... my m-ma-..._ " 

... 

_"Now, until the moment you die."_

... 

" **_MAMA-!!_ **" the scream forced its way from Reimu's throat as she lunged forward. She clutched the bedsheets in her hands... and panted. She panted. Sweat poured from her forehead. Her throat felt dry. Her eyes felt frozen, open, eyeballs trembling in their sockets. She looked fearfully at her hands, then around the dark room. 

The fear Reimu felt last night had only solidified, giving form to her doubts. She had seen her before, there was no way she hadn't. 

And she had... _done something_ to Reimu . She had done something to Reimu's _mother_. 

The churning turmoil inside Reimu's body and soul was ceaseless. Her eyes stuck frozen open. She continued to pant, still trying to catch her breath. Reimu threw off the bed's covers, tapped her feet to the soft carpeted floor, and made her way to the window. 

The blue glow of Makai's night sky... a sky alight with stars that blazed in magic, fuelling not just demons and youkai, but the entire _land_ with its natural magic power. 

This could no longer wait. Vina could no longer wait. 

Sariel's calls were growing louder, and Reimu had to answer. 

After immediately changing into her red and white robes, Reimu crept from her guest room. Armed with her trusty gohei and yin-yang orbs, she headed down the hallway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah another totally normal flashback chapter... wait wait nope no it's not no it's not.
> 
> If it wasn't clear enough already this chapter was a dream, unlike the other flashback chapters. After having regular flashbacks up to this point it was fun to play with expectations a little!
> 
> Still, poor Reimu... dreaming about faceless angels is never a nice experience.


	10. V-ina

Though Shinki had retired to bed, Pandaemonium’s hallway lights were on and the castle felt full of life. Reimu could hear the spirited chatter of demons as she marched past guest-rooms, and the clattering of cups and plates as Shinki's servants and other guests ate and drank and cleaned. 

On paper it sounded creepy for the demon realm to become so animated at night... but Reimu had to admit, it felt homely. It felt warm. Like a less-rowdy youkai party. 

_Nothing_ like how Vina was at night. They’d only gotten a little taste of it earlier, and- 

"... Marisa," Reimu said, stopping in her tracks. 

"Vina bein' as nasty at night as it is, I still can't stop you huh?" 

Marisa had been waiting outside the door to her own room. She was leaned against the wall with her arms folded, fully dressed, her large black hat readily equipped. She stepped to the middle of the hallway and faced Reimu, her bountiful blonde hair bouncing behind her. 

"Nope, you can't stop me," Reimu replied resolutely, staring directly into Marisa. 

And as if testing each other, the best friends locked intense gazes for a few, long seconds. 

Then... Marisa grinned. 

Reading her grin, Reimu found her expression relax into a smile as well. “Thanks, Marisa,” she said. 

Marisa stepped to the side and snatched her gloved hand to her hat, fastening it tightly to her head. "Lead the way. The unbeatable incident-resolvin' duo is on the case." 

"I was hoping you'd say that," Reimu said. Smiling gratefully, her eyes relaxed shut and she stood forward to give Marisa a pat on the shoulder. 

"Anythin', for you," Marisa smiled wistfully. She hesitated for just a moment, then gave Reimu a slap on the back to shove her further down the hall. "Seriously let's get goin', before I start gettin' mushy on ya." 

"Aye aye." 

Reimu wasn't going to ask about Marisa's apparently sudden change of heart; she didn't _need_ to. But she wasn't about to risk waiting around to see how everyone else felt either. Nonetheless, Reimu's resolve was stronger than ever thanks to Marisa's support. 

Reimu gathered pace, Marisa matched her. The two of them marched, ran, glided through the castle's hallways. The few demons and youkai jovially roaming the halls of the castle hardly bat an eyelid at the shrine maiden and magician duo heading towards the exit. 

It's not like Reimu had really expected anyone to try and stop her, but she was still a little surprised that she could just... leave. Despite all of Shinki's strong insistence on her getting rest and avoiding the dangers of Vina. 

Gliding along in silence, Reimu heaved open the castle's large front doors. Then, she and Marisa stepped through, into the darkness of the glowing, night fallen Makai. 

"Y'know the way back, right Reimu?" 

Sure. Probably. Reimu's gut almost always pointed her the right direction in a pinch, but even though she finally knew so clearly what she needed to do, that horrible persistent anxiety was just so _distracting_. 

"Think so," Reimu replied. She flicked her hair back, gesturing her gaze off to the east, away from the path back to Makai City. "It's been a long time since I last explored Makai, but I think it's in that general direction." 

Marisa knew well-enough by now to not doubt Reimu's instincts, but even Reimu didn't sound as sure of herself. Like she was... thinking too hard on it. 

"I’m sure we'll feel it out before too long," Marisa said. 

She gave Reimu a nod of assurance, and Reimu nodded back. Then, the duo hovered from the ground and begun to fly towards the shrubberies bordering the outskirts of the rich fortress grounds. 

Nights in Makai were really something else though. There was no normal atmosphere in the sky like Earth had, the stars being more magic than fire. The illumination they provided to the realm was limited... but despite this, there was an uncanny sense of _place_ all around them. 

It’s likely anyone with a good feel for spiritual ability or magic could get a feel for direction in Makai, even without light. Perhaps it could be best described as feeling... a sense of place and direction _internally_ , rather than with the physical senses. 

So in that sense, it was right up Reimu's alley. 

And yet... 

"Wait," a voice suddenly called from the darkness below. 

By instinct Reimu immediately spun around, throwing out a warning set of ofuda from her fingers. Sharp as ever, but even Marisa could tell that Reimu's nerves had blunted her aim. 

"… It’s Yumeko, right?" Marisa called back. The duo floated back down to the castle gardens as their greeter rose to meet them. 

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you recognise my voice, after all the times you've loitered around here..." Yumeko said. Marisa stuck her chest out proudly. There was a _very_ strong possibility that it wasn't supposed to be a compliment, but despite Yumeko's irked tone a smirk tickled her usually distant expression. 

"You here to drag me back to bed?" Reimu accused, holding a stack of ofuda between her fingers and her gohei in the other hand. "Your controlling mother ordering me to get some rest and avoid danger, is that it?" 

"What would you do if I _was_ here to bring you back?" Yumeko asked, still smirking, her hand silently twitching above the many sword sheaths lining her dress. 

"She's not goin' back inside," Marisa said, floating next to Reimu with her hand on her furnace. At this point, Marisa fully intended on siding with Reimu no matter what. "Once she gets like this, there's no point tryn'a stop her." 

The Hakurei shrine maiden who defeated her as a mere child, and her sister's troublesome girlfriend; both youkai-exterminating humans. Yumeko liked these odds, and a sharp feeling of thrill briefly bristled through her as she imagined how it'd feel for her swords to go _all out_ against such opponents... 

... But Yumeko's muscles calmed, and she returned her hands to her sides. 

"Reimu," Yumeko said, flickering a cold golden gaze directly at her. "You made my new friend Youmu cry. Did you know that?" 

Reimu's pose stiffened, her readiness to fight suddenly thrown off. "Huh?" 

"She really is horribly worried about you, but she feels it would be a great inconvenience to admit it to you," Yumeko continued. "I don't care about inconveniencing you though, so I figured I'd mention it." 

Marisa glanced at Reimu, to see her looking almost crestfallen. 

It wasn't like Youmu to show such candid emotion... it was no wonder Reimu felt guilty. There was time for that later though, and no time for Reimu to lose her composure. "'s that all?" Marisa said with a worn grin. "It’s normal for us all ta worry about Reimu, but this is gonna end, tonight!" 

"It's not just _her_ ," Yumeko turned her gaze, a _cold_ gaze, towards Marisa. 

"Uh...?" Marisa suddenly felt a chill. 

Their guard lightened by uncertainty, Yumeko floated towards the duo. She squinted. 

For a youkai of Makai, empowered by its night, she didn't even _need_ to look to feel the sweat beading on their temples, the uneasy beating of their hearts, the guilt threatening to ease past their collective resolve. 

Yumeko edged towards Marisa’s ear. "You know..." she muttered, bearing a devilish grin. 

Then, Yumeko floated right past them. 

"Making Youmu cry is one thing, but both of you... 

“You two make my baby sister cry an _awful lot_ ," she continued. 

Yumeko turned back to their quiet shock with a scowl... but the scowl softened. Instead, Yumeko eased her glare and gave the duo perhaps the gentlest smile she had ever worn around them. 

"It's wonderful to see she has people she cares for so much. As her family... seeing how she bawled her eyes out with worry to me about both of you earlier, I want to thank you for making her so earnestly happy." 

Marisa's arm drooped. "Uh? Yer thankin' me for _that_!?" 

"Indeed," Yumeko replied, crossing her arms and shutting her eyes. "For so long I've thought you were this genuine annoyance to her and that she would be better off without you... but the tears she shed to me earlier were of such deep compassion. Compassion she seldom ever showed when she was an anxious, sheltered child... so, I thank you." 

Marisa shot Reimu a desperately confused glance, and Reimu shrugged back. Normally they figured making Alice cry would be punishable by death from the mighty Margatroid family of Makai... but now was not the time to count their blessings. 

"So then!" Yumeko nodded, her frizzy blonde hair bouncing energetically behind her. She dexterously dove her hands into the folds of her apron, unsheathing a sword before turning back to the duo. "The fastest way to Vina is actually through the World of Ice and Snow, not the city or... _wherever_ it was you two were headed." 

"She totally had this!" Marisa slapped Reimu confidently on the back. "You can go back to bed, no need ta bother yerself with us." 

"If you had _continued_ to leave the castle's grounds past its boundaries, you would have found yourself wandering right into the castle's namesake; pandaemonium itself," Yumeko said with a smirk. She carefully watched Reimu's face, eager to savour her inevitable humbling. "A place of pure chaos in which form and direction have no meaning. Basically you'd have gotten lost and mother would have had to save you when she woke up for breakfast." 

There it was. The face of humbled embarrassment dawning on not just Reimu's face but Marisa's too. 

For this moment alone... helping them would be worth it. 

"You cannot rely on earthly senses and feelings to navigate the ferocious magic of Makai at nighttime," Yumeko said with purpose, spinning back around and facing in the direction of a path out of the gardens. 

"Follow me."

Fields of endless, gleaming white contrast against a deep black sky. 

How the frozen wastes glowed so brilliantly beneath a complete lack of actual sunlight would make the sight seem impossible in Gensokyo, or _anywhere_ on Earth. Perhaps though, so close to the pandaemonic core of Makai, a place like this made complete sense. 

"You sure this way's quicker?" Marisa asked. "Aren't there usually tons of feisty youkai around here?" 

Yumeko turned back to Reimu and Marisa wearing a sly smirk, a faint glint in her yellow eyes. 

Reimu scowled. "If you've led us into a trap, I won't hesitate to exterminate you." 

"Calm down," Yumeko span around to face them. "The youkai here won't even think of attacking us if they see me with you. They may not remember you, but they can never forget me." 

She then shrugged and threw one leg over the other, appearing to leisurely sit in middair as she continued to soar backward across snow-capped trees. 

Yumeko had always been confident, but this... there was a burning excitement punctuating her normally calm demeanour, something Reimu and Marisa had never seen in her before. 

"You sure seem excited for someone who won't have to get into any fights," Reimu said with an uneasy grin, eyes fixed on Yumeko. 

"I wonder," Yumeko chuckled and twirled back around. "Let's just say it's been a while since I had any business in Vina...!" 

Trickles of excitement finally leaked from her mouth, springing forth as she clenched her fist on her sword and burst ahead with intensifying speed. 

It almost caught Reimu and Marisa by surprise; they were suddenly forced to fly as fast as they could just to keep her within their sights. Dozens and dozens of hungry, glowing eyes meekly watched them soar by from within the snowy tree-filled plains. 

Yumeko's red silhouette plunged down through the black sky, appearing to dive right into the blindingly white snow. When Reimu and Marisa finally caught up, it became more evident that the snow field had seen a steep slope drop. 

It was as if the land itself was suddenly falling at an angle. 

And the further down the slope the three flew, the more the snow appeared to be tumbling, rolling, cascading, like pure-white water. Building, rumbling, crashing, rushing, until... 

The whole realm of Makai appeared to come to a complete stop before them. 

Yumeko, Reimu and Marisa soared over the end of the World of Ice and Snow, and hurtled downward into the endlessly black abyss. The faint feeling of g-force gave Reimu the urge to scrunch her eyes. 

It reminded her that it had probably been _years_ since she last flew this fast. Not only that , she was flying directly ahead into nothingness, following a woman she hardly _knew_. 

Out of curiosity Reimu chanced a look behind her, up to the sky they were diving down from, and her eyes widened. 

She could see the snow bursting over the edge of the World of Ice and Snow above them, its blankets of white plummeting endlessly to the abysses below until it shimmered a crystalline blue. That snowfall was also... a waterfall? 

And as Reimu became more conscious of the fact that perhaps the biggest waterfall she had ever _seen_ was now their backdrop, she also noticed the deep black sky begin to cloud and mist over. The lower the group plummeted, the more the world around them appeared to be coated in grim, dirty, purple miasma. 

"Vina..." 

Yumeko turned back to Reimu with a confident, affirming nod, while Marisa looked at the both of them with shock. 

"Definitely don't remember Vina bein' off the edge of a death drop!" Marisa yelled, clinging to her hat as Makai’s nonexistent winds lashed against their faces. 

Yumeko span over onto her back, upside down, grinning up at Marisa as she plummeted. "Lady Shinki's fortress and the World of Ice and Snow both lie above Pandaemonium. Chaos reigns in the center of Makai, you should have left your concepts of common sense at the portal when you arrived here!!" she grinned. 

She seemed to be enjoying toying with Reimu and Marisa's expectations far too much. She held her arms out and let out an exhilarated laugh, plummeting herself faster, faster, almost like she was skydiving and loving _every minute of it_. 

Marisa flew to Reimu's side and nudged her with her elbow. "Hey! Alice's sister, the thrill-seeker. Who knew, right!?" She grinned at Reimu and laughed. 

And Reimu laughed back. 

"You laughed!" Marisa beamed at Reimu through her own laughter. For a moment, it looked almost as though she was going to cry again, but she steeled her eyes towards Yumeko again. 

"... I knew a good incident would make ya smile again." 

Reimu had to admit it, she was having _fun_. Even in a world as mystifyingly grim as this, everything was so strange, so awesome. She could fly so fast for so long without seeing the sky _or_ the ground, the only thing for miles around being a thick fog of magic and the wall of water plunging into nothingness behind them. 

But as the crumbling mountains, canyons and chasms of Vina finally started to come into view, the pink faded from Reimu's cheeks. 

Her eyes begun to tremble quietly in their sockets, the feeling of her stomach slurring and plummeting faster than even her body. The weight of reality served as a rude, but timely interruption. 

"... Save it 'til this is all over," she resolutely replied to Marisa. 

While Marisa’s heart careened again at the ruthless anxiety she could see returning to Reimu's face, she nodded and sped ahead. 

Yumeko's rollercoaster plummet finally came to a sharp rebound as she skimmed the rivers crashing below them, then swooped up slightly without losing speed. 

Water crashed violently below them, heading towards Vina's familiar waterfalls and streams and lakes, but the land itself appeared vastly different under this blood-purple miasma. 

It was almost like the dead land was alive. Just... not living. More like... _reanimated_. 

Reimu could feel it; Makai's infinite magic pulsed through Vina's earth, grass and rocks, and the land reacted by fighting against itself. 

"As Lady Shinki explained, Vina is a land frozen in time," Yumeko said. "However, at night when the magic of Makai is at its strongest, _even Vina_ begins to move." 

As she said this, a loose rock came hurtling towards them, appearing to have launched from a furiously bristling hillside. 

Marisa clutched onto her hat as she swooped to the side and yelled, "I know you said nothin' makes sense here, but I've never seen anywhere in Makai come alive at night like _this_!" 

Reimu furrowed her brow, easily slipping to the side on instinct while keeping her eyes locked on Yumeko. The way Yumeko's entire body tensed up, the way she held one hand on a sword and the other beside her for balance... 

" _This isn't normal for Makai_ , is it!?" Reimu speculated out-loud. 

As she spoke, the grass on the bristling hill appeared to give way, before lunging sharp spines of earth in indiscriminate directions. Before Reimu and Marisa could even blink, Yumeko's sword had been drawn and a lance of earth had been sliced away. 

"Bingo," Yumeko said, her sword-arm trembling slightly, betraying tension in her confident grin. "Without its master, with its citizens scattered and confused, Vina isn't just dead, it's _desperately collapsing_ at any moment time isn't stood still." 

"I'm guessing the fact we all have pretty strong magical energies doesn't help matters much?" Reimu huffed, zipping to dodge blades of grass flinging across the sky like needles. 

"Nope," Yumeko replied. "And I don't think I've ever seen Vina _this_ agitated either, did you do something?" 

"I think that youkai in the Fallen Temple wants to kill me." 

"Seriously, Reimu!?" Marisa yelled. "When did you decide this!?" 

"It's a hunch," Reimu replied. She continued to nonchalantly explain, even as the world seemed to cave in around her. "This place has been desperately calling to me, louder and louder since we got here. It's like it's screaming at me." 

"Well at this rate, Vina only has a few days left before it completely crumbles to dust," Yumeko muttered through grit teeth. She pushed two swords out to hold a path between hill peaks open for them as they all zipped through. 

"Dammit!" Marisa winced at the weight of a pillar crashing down onto the back of her broom, knocking her slightly lower before she could regain her balance. "Was comin' at night really a good idea!?" 

"Judging by the rate of collapse..." Yumeko's voice carried slightly as she soared ahead. "We’ll be lucky if the Fallen Temple is even still standing by the end of the night." 

"WHAT!?" Marisa yelled, grazing her elbow against a slab of earth that rocketed past the group. 

Reimu's eyes darkened, her eyebrows sinking in an anxious fury. "Shit," she said. "Tonight _was_ my only chance then, it _always_ was!!" 

"It's always this way with you though, huh Reimu?" Marisa yelled to her side with a grin. Reimu forced a weak smile and a shrug in return - it was about all she could manage through the deafening sounds of the world collapsing around her, as well as the noise of her own tumultuous head. 

"Still, I wonder where all the youkai are?" Yumeko said as the pace of their flying finally synced up. "Even though Vina is dying, the lack of Evil Eyes here tonight is especially peculiar..." 

"What do you mean?" Reimu replied. 

"Vina is home to a great number of Evil Eyes, including a particularly powerful amalgam of them called YuugenMagan," Yumeko explained. "It's said that Sariel has the ability to control and ward off Evil Eyes, so I guess she really _is_ expecting you, Reimu." 

First the dreams, then the imminent collapse of Vina, now this? 

There was no longer a shred of doubt in Reimu's mind that she was supposed to be here tonight. Even Marisa and Yumeko, previously skeptical of the situation, were increasingly finding themselves at the whims of what seemed like a fated night for Reimu Hakurei. 

"Are there no other youkai in Vina?" Marisa asked. 

"There's a devil," Reimu replied. "… Just a hunch." 

***CLANG***

Barely moments after Reimu spoke, one of Yumeko's swords collided sharply against something zipping around just out of sight. 

"Right you are, Reimu!" Yumeko shouted through grit teeth. She held her left fist on her sword, pushing hard against a sharp purple object soaring alongside her, and readied another sword with her right hand. "Speak of the devil, and she will come!!" 

" _Kihihihihii_!" cackled the sharp purple entity. With a single, swift shake, the strange being unfurled itself to reveal itself as the wings of a devil youkai. Long blonde hair and a long red dress were contrast by her smart black and white shirt and the playful ribbons in her hair and clothes. Perhaps what stood out most though, was the red star-shaped mark on her cheek, and the star-tipped wand she carried. 

"A _magician_?" Marisa yelled in shock. In any other situation she probably would have been really excited, but she was so anxious that she just ended up sounding befuddled. 

" _Elis!!_ " Yumeko shouted the devil's name and began to unleash a barrage of swords from within the folds of her dress and leg straps. "I was wondering when you'd show up!" 

Elis effortlessly began to parry and knock away Yumeko's strikes, keeping her eyes curiously focused on Reimu and Marisa with a sly grin. 

"You picked a bad day to get in my way," Reimu scowled at the devil through grit teeth. "Vina is dying, why don't you leave!?" 

"My home is dying...~!” Elis mused, “Lady Sariel has been gone for so many years...~!" she continued to flare off attacks at Yumeko. "Without Vina, I have no reason to live anymore. So I may as well go out with one last _fight_!" 

Elis tried to blast through the blonde maid, but Yumeko seemed more eager to block Elis' magic blasts from hitting Reimu and Marisa than she was about fighting back. 

"Stop looking at them, your opponent is _me_!" Yumeko shouted at Elis, trying to recapture her attention. 

"Hmmmm? But that's another magician over there, right? I wanna fight her so bad..." 

Reimu looked over to Marisa to see that Marisa's expression was torn, too.

To meet another magician like this, someone who might have magic Marisa had never seen before, only for her to likely be near death... it was a little cruel. 

"Today's your lucky day then, Elis," Yumeko continued to taunt, a smirk spreading across her cheeks. "That troublesome magician you have your eyes fixed on is dating my dork of a sister. If you return with me to Lady Shinki's fortress, you'll be able to fight her any time you want!" 

"!? Yumeko!?" Marisa yelled ahead in confusion at Yumeko's offer. "What are you-..." 

Elis' attention had been successfully averted though. "Hmmmm... iinteresting...!" She stared back at Yumeko as a devilish grin spread on her own face, and began to focus her increasingly heavy blasts on Yumeko instead. "Then you'd better not die here! Perhaps I'll accept your offer if you can withstand the might of a devil, galvanised by the collapse of her home!" 

"You two!!" Yumeko yelled back to Reimu and Marisa. She blasted forward into Elis with a barrage of swords, shoving the devil back into a shivering wall of rubble and earth. "This is as far as I go, the temple isn't much further!" 

"B-but Yumeko, are ya sure-" 

"Marisa!" Reimu interrupted, tugging Marisa away in the direction of a small hole in the cliffside. "We have to go! _Now_!" 

The entire hillside was beginning to engulf and close around them, and the only small crevice light still shone through became smaller and smaller as the ruins caved in with increasingly catastrophic intensity. 

Gritting her teeth in acceptance, Marisa sped after Reimu on her broom and the both of them accelerated, hurtling directly toward the passage while it collapsed before their eyes. They weren't going to make it-!! 

But a few swords suddenly sliced through the air, right past Reimu and Marisa's hair, jut directly into the earth, and momentarily held the tunnel open just long enough for the duo to slip through. 

Creak... creak... twang twang _TWANGGG._

_….._ ***FWOOOM***

Deafening sounds filled the ears of a panting Reimu and Marisa. The swords had snapped... and the cliffs had caved in. 

As the dust cleared, and the sounds of crushing and compounding cliffs finally subsided, Reimu and Marisa could finally hear their own heavy breaths. 

"We..." Marisa panted. "We... made it... huh..." 

"Yeah..." Reimu heaved. “We made it...” 

She lowered herself down to the dark, grey grass. She beheld the massive, grand structure before her. Tall windows, ornate sculptures in ruins adorning its sides. Spires, and crosses, and winding passages... 

It was like nothing she had ever seen before. But... but she... _had_. 

"This is the Fallen Temple," Reimu said with certainty. She stepped forward; her eyes fixed on it. Even though the surrounding area looked completely different, there was little remaining doubt in Reimu's mind. 

She had been here before. 

Marisa stiffly clenched her teeth and let out an anxious mumble. She quickly eyed out the area around them; the entire temple had sunken into the earth in this almost cavern-like place. 

The rumbling of Vina's collapsing mountains and skies now sounded distant, muffled and obscured. 

"We’re completely closed in, huh..." Marisa mumbled again. She hupped up to a float, following closely and carefully after Reimu while surveying their surroundings. Cliffs had collapsed all around them, some just barely held up by the incredibly strong fundamentals of the temple itself. 

"Amazin'…" Marisa said. “The temple is so sturdy that even collapsin' mountains from all sides can't destroy it?" 

"The Hakurei seal here is a particularly strong one," Reimu explained. "No youkai or youkai magic can get in or out of this temple. It's completely untouchable to anyone in Makai." 

Reimu kneeled down at the decorated grand doors and felt the earth... rather than the dry, dusty feeling of most of Vina’s ground, the earth here felt almost a little damp. _Alive_. 

This area directly around the temple was probably the only remaining part of Vina still living, and it was all thanks to this absurdly strong seal. 

"Heh," Reimu huffed a chuckle. 

She approached the grand doors of the temple. She gently ran a couple of fingers along the familiar talisman holding those incredible, giant doors shut. "A single talisman... this seal must have taken everything the enchanter had." 

Marisa approached Reimu from behind, getting a closer look at the temple and the deceptively simple seal herself. "Your mom was one hell of a shrine maiden by the sounds of things." 

An uneasy sigh rolled from Reimu's mouth, and she tilted her head to face Marisa. 

"This seal wasn't left by my mother." 

Marisa scoffed in reflex and gave Reimu a jokey pat on the shoulder. Her expression quickly fell solemn though; Reimu wasn't laughing. 

"Reimu..." Marisa muttered. "Th-there's no way... y'don't mean...?" 

Reimu nodded. 

"Welcome to... the place where I resolved my first ever incident, I guess," she admitted with a weak shrug. 

She struggled to maintain eye-contact with Marisa, anxiously looking back to the unbelievable seal she had left as a child. "Must have buried this place deep in my memories... and I think I'm finally starting to understand why." 

"Well I don't!" Marisa said, reaching out for Reimu's shoulder. "This don't add up, Sariel wanted revenge against yer mom, right?" 

"No Marisa, _that_ didn't add up,” Reimu retorted, a wistful air lingering on her slightly shaky voice. 

“... The more I heard about Vina... Sariel... my mother... the more certain I was that I had fought Sariel before. That Sariel had _taunted_ me before. Th-that-... _that_..." 

"R-Reimu..." 

Reimu took a sharp breath, gripping her gohei tightly. 

“If I was the one who sealed Sariel away, it means my mother didn’t. It means my mother failed,” she said. Turning, Reimu finally made herself look stiffly, yet earnestly, into Marisa’s eyes. 

“When Shinki mentioned Sariel had been visiting Gensokyo and returning injured? It terrified me. There’s only one reason a great youkai goes to Gensokyo and gets injured over and over again; they have a bone to pick with the Hakurei. Do you... get where I’m going with this?” 

Marisa’s eyes widened. 

"I-it's all been coming back to me, Marisa. The last time I _ever_ saw my mother wasn’t that long before my first incident, and now I know why. 

“Sariel doesn't want revenge on my mother, because she's the youkai who _killed_ my mother. She already _had_ her revenge; she just wants to finish the job by killing me too." 

Reimu's words were clear and her voice had steadied. Still, her gohei showed a faint tremble as she prepared to unseal the temple. 

"Once I undo the seal," Reimu went on before Marisa could react, keeping her eyes on the ground, "Vina could become even more unstable. You need to get Yumeko and escape as quickly as possible. You'll be able to escape if you blast directly upwards, okay?" 

"W-wait wait! What about you, Reimu?" Marisa asked. She cautiously edged back, keeping her gaze locked anxiously on her best friend. "You're comin' back too, right...?" 

A few moments of silence passed as Reimu readied her unsealing spells. Then, just before the spell was finished, she turned to Marisa with a weak smile. "I... hope so." she said. 

"Reimu-!!" Marisa yelled. She jumped onto Reimu's back with a hug, pressing her nose into the backs of Reimu's clothing, holding her tight. "Y-you don't have to do this... you _don't have to do this_. It's totally okay if you wanna turn back, just leave this and come home. You know that, right?" 

Reimu released the grip on her gohei, leaving it suspended in the air. 

She turned on the spot, and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. 

"I don't care if I have to or not, I-... I need to. I _want_ to. 

“For closure. For my mom. For every cell in my body _screaming at me to do this._ I can't stop me anymore. 

"But I won't die, Marisa. I promise." 

“You’d better not...” Marisa tried to force a smile. “I won’t forgive you if you break that promise, you’d better not...!” 

Reimu pulled back slightly from the hug, and gave Marisa a gentle smile. 

Then, she shoved Marisa down the bank... and broke the seal.

It took only moments, for a brilliant, golden light to completely engulf them. 

And all of Vina. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was probably the most fun to write in the whole story. Bringing Yumeko, Makai and Vina to life with so much mystique and energy was challenging but I'm really proud of how it turned out.
> 
> Actually, it's because of this chapter that Yumeko is my favourite TouhouPC98 character now. She's an utter delight to write and I hope I can write her again in a future story someday. I hope you loved her too! She's so cool...!
> 
> In the past I never thought I was particularly good at action scenes... but in this chapter I challenged myself to balance character writing, environmental storytelling *and* action. Introducing Elis and having Elis battle Yumeko whilst keeping the pace fast and bringing out that "race against time" feeling was really difficult but.. I think I pulled it off.
> 
> The result is easily one of my favourite chapters of the story. One of my favourite chapters I've written in a while in general tbh! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.
> 
> Anyway... we've reached the climax of the story.  
> Until now I've been publishing 2 chapters at a time, but next time I'll only be publishing chapter 11, then chapter 12 a fortnight after that.
> 
> Everything will come together in these coming chapters... but for now, does anyone have any thoughts or theories on what might be going on?
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, it always genuinely means a lot to me to see reactions and such on my works!
> 
> \-------  
> Glossary:
> 
> Evil Eye - In Judaic mythology, Evil Eyes are curses that can be caused by a malevolent glare. The angel Sariel of Judaic mythology was said to be able to ward off Evil Eyes. In Touhou, Evil Eyes are a type of youkai seen in the PC98 era.  
> YuugenMagan - A boss in the first Touhou game, "Highly Responsive to Prayers", made up of five giant eyes connected by a centre of energy. YuugenMagan is inspired by Evil Eyes, and in this story Sariel is its master.


	11. Highly Responsive to Her Smile

Reimu stepped forward. Even in ruins, the immaculate finish of the temple's flooring shimmered in a mystical, enigmatic light. 

Gradually, tile by tile, the floor began to fall away. Tiles became lost below in a dark, golden abyss that appeared as though its depths were endless. Above her, the tall, looming, carved walls and stained windows stretched higher and higher, brighter and brighter, out of sight. Reimu craned her neck up and squinted; she couldn't see a ceiling, only a pure white light at the furthest point her eyes could reach. 

She couldn't help but gasp. She'd never seen anything like it before. 

Clack, she kicked the bottom of her shoe against the nothingness where the floor fell away. It shimmered in reaction. Solid... smooth... like it was made entirely of glass. 

If she wasn't so mad, she might have been a little impressed. Just a little. 

Cautiously, Reimu begun to explore the temple's endless, labyrinthine halls and corridors. Some ceilings and archways fell low and cavernous, while the walls of other rooms looked as though they reached the heavens themselves. Huge, floating crosses and orbs hung in the air, beautiful yet ominous. 

And despite the unending space, despite having nothing but her feet, it didn't take Reimu long to find her target. 

There, floating in the center of a huge hall, caped in sheer white, that must have been the youkai behind all this. 

"You!" Reimu shouted out. With confident gusto, she pointed her finger at her target. " _You_ destroyed my _shrine_!!" 

Reimu steeled her posture. Stood straight, gohei outstretched, yin-yang orbs armed, she made herself look as big as possible - and shrine maidens weren't prey, they were the _predators_. Only part of it was even conscious, she just happened to be a natural at this sort of stuff. 

Then, finally reacting to her presence, the figure's white cloak shivered. It began to unfurl; as if emerging from a cocoon. 

Six terrifying, huge wings fell around the figure's sides, revealing a woman with a long purple dress and hair that glowed iridescently, as white as those magnificent wings. 

With an empty serenity on her face, the woman responded, "Indeed." 

Her voice echoed around the endless halls with the kind of imperious splendour Reimu had only ever dreamed of before. So this was what a great youkai was like, huh? 

"It was I who destroyed your shrine," she continued. "I am Sariel, Angel of Death." 

"No matter what you are,” Reimu pointed at Sariel, “youkai that get in my way or cause chaos get exterminated!!" She pointed even harder, even more accusingly. 

Sariel's eyes, which had been carefully watching Reimu the entire time, flickered. As if witnessing something pleasing. The cold blankness of her lips curled into a gentle smile. 

And for some reason, Reimu's stomach begun to churn. 

"W-why are you smiling?" Reimu asked with a regrettable stutter. She stepped nearer to her target and tried to put the abominable woman in her place. "How overconfident for a youkai to think she can defeat the Hakurei shrine maiden!" she declared. 

Her gohei trained on Sariel, Reimu was ready to start firing off her yin-yang orbs at any moment. 

But the smile on Sariel's lips only widened as she watched Reimu's performance, and Reimu felt her heart lurch with discomforting frustration. 

"Did you come here all alone?" Sariel asked. "I'm so proud of you." 

"O-of course I did! The Hakurei shrine maiden is _supposed_ to work alone!" Reimu stammered in response, struggling to keep her anger from showing on her sleeves. 

Spreading her gigantic wings, holding out her staff, Sariel only kept smiling as she drifted towards Reimu with such horrific, gentle stillness. 

Reimu's heart was beating like crazy. Reimu clutched at her red skirt to avoid clutching at her chest. Why was it beating so hard!? 

No, no no, it's okay. It was because this haughty, smug youkai was smiling at her. That must have been why. Treating her like a child, like _all_ _those other youkai_ had today. 

Thing is, all those other youkai _paid_ for underestimating her! Reimu was the Hakurei shrine maiden, and she'd make _sure_ they were all aware of it. 

Reimu took a deep breath, centering her energy and her focus into her mind, and collected herself a little. She always had found meditation pretty easy, if not boring, but at least it did the trick. 

She opened her eyes and faced her nemesis again - with conviction. 

"Tell me why you destroyed my shrine." 

Sariel tilted her head, thoughtfully cupping her cheek in her right hand, keeping her deep, grape-coloured eyes on Reimu the whole time. 

"Does a ‘youkai’ need a reason to cause mischief?" she asked. "I simply thought it was high time I discovered if the new Hakurei was worthy of her name." 

This pretentious youkai... this god-complex weirdo... destroyed Reimu's shrine. Reimu's _home_. For _that_!? 

Teeth clenched, Reimu muttered loud enough to be heard, "Youkai really are the worst." 

No reaction, no fresh taunting. Sariel only kept watching Reimu carefully with that gentle, sheepish smile of hers. 

“Stop smiling like that!" Reimu barked through a scowl. "You _still_ don't seem to get that you're about to be exterminated!!" 

Argh! That was it! Without waiting another moment, using every ounce of her surprising strength, Reimu gave her yin yang orb a heavy *THWACK* with her gohei. 

Sariel's eyes widened in genuine surprise - the yin-yang orb had hurtled towards her at shocking velocity, quickly making contact with her hip with a resounding thrashing sound. 

And... it stung. It _stung._

Hand rushing to her chest in flinch, Sariel huffed a flustered chuckle. Her other hand briefly felt over the wound. "You're right, I do seem to be dangerously relaxed about all this, don't I?" she said with another weak chuckle. "I might die, after all!" 

Before Reimu had time to snap back, Sariel had raised her staff to the air. Before Reimu had time to blink, a blinding flash of white escaped that great staff and filled every cranny of the endless temple. 

And when Reimu opened her eyes again: _bullets_. 

' _Dammit!_ ' Reimu's mind barked at her. Every muscle in her body tensed up in reflex, throwing her to the side in time to dodge the barraging globes of sheer light, then thwack her yin-yang orb towards Sariel again. 

Her yin-yang orb sailed through the air, slicing past the cascading curtains of bullets falling towards her from every direction, from all over the place. It was as if the temple itself had come to life as Sariel’s army, firing at Reimu on the angel’s grandiose demand. 

Ugh, such frustrating _nerve_! Sariel's genteel and elegance had Reimu almost believing that she would be a graceful fight, but she was already playing dirty! Caught off-guard by more loud, bright flashes of light from Sariel's staff, Reimu scampered away from beams and bullets again and again before finally finding some footing, before finally finding some rhythm to the storm.

Another deep breath. Yeah, another deep breath.

Reimu gently shut her eyes and sensed for Sariel's energies firing toward her. She could almost _feel_ them cutting through the air. Somehow, this made it easier to move around without worrying about the lights and environment overstimulating her...

Ah, her yin-yang orb came back to her again. And _*WHACK*_ , she smacked the orb clean through a curtain of bullets, this time smacking into Sariel's ribs with a satisfying crash. Reimu opened her eyes with a grin, ready to take pride at the pain on the monster's face. 

But... No pain. No pain? Not even a wince. Just the same, gentle, composed smile.

Sariel's arm still raised her staff so calmly, almost emptily, as she called upon a deluge of Evil Eyes. It was as if she were just sitting there in the sky, letting her energy and the staff do all her work.

' _I hate this,_ ' Reimu thought to herself as she continued to desperately scramble around the shattered ground. Was it even ground? It just felt like space at this point, like the endless night sky, except flashy and annoying instead of pretty. Whatever! Exterminating an empty youkai like Sariel didn't feel satisfying at all! 

Reimu had been so distracted by Sariel's disturbing behaviour that she scarcely even noticed how drastically the battlefield had changed during their clash. Flinging herself desperately to the side to dodge a bombardment of bullets from some of Sariel's Evil Eyes, Reimu jolted in shock at finding herself suddenly caught on something. 

"A-a tree!?" Reimu yelped out loud. 

No, no time! Reimu tore the red skirt of her robes and dove away from more incoming fire. She desperately waved her gohei around her body... and then she couldn't. _Dammit!_ Immediately, Reimu had found herself ensnared in the spindly branches of another horrific, decayed tree. 

Opening her eyes, Reimu noticed that the grotesque things had sprouted up all around the temple. It was difficult to even call it a temple anymore, it looked more like a _graveyard_. 

No time, no time. Reimu's eyes darted around the bewilderingly infinite space and quickly locked on to her yin-yang orb, barreling back at her after satisfyingly crushing an Evil Eye. 

Clenching her teeth, Reimu focused all her energy into her body and broke away from the trees, leaping into the air as high as she could, smacking the orb right at Sariel once more.

"Ugh, this would be so much easier if I could fly..." Reimu mumbled through an irritated scowl. 

"Mm?" Sariel chuckled, infuriatingly still not showing a hint of pain, infuriatingly still wearing that smile. "I'd like to see that. Maybe you just need to train harder?" she had the nerve to taunt. 

Stop smiling. 

"What do _you_ know?" Reimu stammered back between throwing stacks of ofuda. It was like everything Sariel _did_ got a visceral reaction out of her. 

Stop smiling! Just _stop smiling_ _!!_

"What do I know indeed?" Sariel kept smiling. Her smiling lips stung relentlessly at Reimu's mind, like salt on a wound. 

Stop! Stop _smiling!! Please,_ ** _STOP_ ** _!!_

Reimu's blood was boiling, her fists quaked furiously. Every inch of her adrenaline pushed her little body across the temple towards her yin-yang orb, and she launched herself at it. She threw everything she _had_ at it. 

Spiritual energy running down her arms, into her fingers, through her gohei. She clenched her teeth and scowled, and with a brutal overhead swing, Reimu thwacked her gohei into her yin-yang orb. 

Her arm tensed in recoil. Her heavy yin-yang orb... somehow felt even heavier than it ever had before. 

"A-aahhh..!" Reimu gasped through her teeth. She urged the force of her arms further, she scowled, she clenched her fists, and... 

"Rrr... **_RRAAAGHH!!_ **" 

She bellowed from her core, to mask the horrible pounding of her heart. With every ounce of energy in her body, she drove her gohei down - and the fastest yin-yang orb Reimu had ever batted hurtled right into that youkai's annoying _face_!! 

Reimu's arms stung with lethargy. Her eyes instinctively fell shut from exhaustion. She tried to cancel out that horrible ringing in her ears. Ugh, that _screech_ , what _was_ that!? 

"Hahh... hahh..." Reimu panted, but still the screeching went on. When her eyes eased open, she finally saw it. 

Sparks of smoke, like burning, flickered from Sariel's head. The sharp hissing sound of searing flesh emanated from the yin-yang orb’s impact. 

And the screech was Sariel, stumbling backward, clinging, clutching in agony to her face. 

"Finally... hahh... wiped that stupid smile from your face..." Reimu kept panting. Her shoulders heaved as she tried to catch her breath, but the onslaught of bullets finally seemed to have slowed too. In fact, only a few Evil Eyes remained... and they scattered, fluttering sinisterly away into the nothingness. 

For now, it seemed, she had won. She’d really _won_! 

So Reimu, tired, hurt, frustrated, approached her prey, gohei outstretched. Time to show the final boss who was boss. Time to finally make her mark as the Hakurei shrine maiden. 

As Reimu approached the target, the angel’s wings began to shudder and quiver, the hissing sound of the orb's burn finally beginning to quiet. Then... Sariel uncovered her wounded face, and looked back at her opponent... 

“Very good, Reimu." 

... With a smile. 

A deafening rumbling suddenly begun to fill the temple. 

At first Reimu wondered if it might be the sound of her own head finally losing it in anger, but the longer it lasted the more it seemed like the whole temple was quaking... and it was coming from Sariel.

It was loud. It was so loud. It was thumping, _so_ loudly. But it only made the screaming of Reimu's head _worse_ ! She wanted it to stop, and the look on that _monster's_ **_face_ ** was the cause of it! 

"Why does that smile piss me off so much...!?" Reimu growled through clenched teeth. 

The rumbling grew louder, Sariel's energy pulsing more heavily. The entire temple appeared to reverberate, shake, flicker back and forth. 

And yet, still Sariel smiled. 

Reimu picked herself up straight and stomped forth, thrusting her gohei at her victim. "Stop smiling! You _LOST!!_ " she barked. She watched through resentful eyes at Sariel's pulsing, flashing, fading body. Her mind bubbled with fury as the temple's distorted space tugged at Sariel's flesh from all directions. 

The rumbling intensified. The distortions more and more chaotic. The scenery of the temple changed so drastically, so rapidly, that Reimu quickly fell unsure of what was even _real_ or not anymore. The sky. Great forests. Outer space, among the stars. It all flashed before Reimu's eyes. 

"Stop! Give up, okay!? Just _stop!!_ " 

It didn't stop, Sariel didn't respond. A beautiful landscape of white marble and plantlife, rich in sweet red fruit. A bunch of youkai, all smiling. Hakurei Shrine. Reimu. 

… Reimu? 

"Wh-what _is this_!?" Reimu screamed out. 

But there was no doubt; some of the illusions now lining the temple's walls and floors, dominating every image of Reimu's vision, seemed to be her... _own memories._

Her shrine on a perfect, sunny day. 

Her own self, training so carefreely with gohei and ofuda. 

The darkness under the shrine Reimu used to love playing in. The inner-shrine. People from Gensokyo. Genjii. Rinnosuke... 

"Wh-why, youkai!?" 

Reimu's yells were in vain; it was like Sariel couldn't even hear her. 

“Ah, oh dear,” A wince teased Sariel’s calm voice. “To think... a-ah... you’d done this much damage...!” she gasped through her teeth. 

“Reimu... you’ve defeated me... You should... leave... before-…!” she said, her breathing becoming unsteady. 

“W-wait, what!?” Reimu grit her own teeth. “No, coward! Give me answers about these illusions!” 

But the angel clutched her head in her hands as a piercing ringing filled the air, completely drowning out Reimu's endless, hapless questions. 

A wind picked up in the infinite, windless temple. Gusts of dead, empty air bellowed away from Sariel's body in blasts. Sariel's robes fluttered and flapped violently, Sariel's wings juttered and shook, and Sariel's pained face continued to smile... until her expression was utterly engulfed in an all-consuming, white, light. 

Reimu dug her feet in, trying to use what little flight ability she had to stabilise herself from the sudden sheer force of the gales. 

As jet black darkness spilled forth from Sariel's mouth, nostrils, ears, eyes, covering her hair, covering her wings, her dress... Reimu approached her. 

And for a moment, time stood still. 

There, staring back at her, was a woman with silky, jet-black hair. 

Hair so straight that she looked like a princess. So long it looked almost like a cape. 

The woman was clad in robes, red and white. It was an outfit Reimu would know anywhere. 

And tears began to well in Reimu's eyes, as she stared so desperately at the familiar woman before her. 

And... and... 

Her mother stared back, with Sariel's horrible, detestable smile. 

N-no. Wait.

Reimu's mind did backflips in protest. That... that wasn't right. Reimu forced herself again to look. No, she had had it all wrong. No, _no_ , **_no_**. 

It was this dreadful youkai... who had all along... been... _wearing her mother's smile_... 

"Wh-... What did you-..."

Something in Reimu's mind snapped.

" **WHAT DID YOU DO TO MAMA--** "

Reimu’s gohei was gripped tight in a trembling fist, and she darted right at the unforgivable youkai who wore her missing mother's face. 

Sariel's expression twisted. A flinching moment of grimace, before a pained smirk forced its way onto that cruelly familiar face. Sariel's wings shuddered and coiled. Her black, no, white hair lunged around her body, her wings wrapped around her again and again. 

Sariel's body crunched in on itself, crushed by the great weight of her dress, hair, wings, the unimaginable weight of the temple itself. 

Her smile empty. Her eyes wide, blank. Sariel stared directly into Reimu with only the faintest, shimmering signs of passion still lingering - in a horrific moment that would have been burnt hard into any young girl's memory. 

And then, sucked, tugged and distorted inward until it could not do so any longer... 

… Sariel's body twisted out of sight. 

"...!?" 

Without realising, Reimu’s arm had been reaching towards Sariel before she disappeared. The moment she became aware though, every single sense in Reimu’s body told her to ‘ **MOVE** ’. 

Reimu's trembling hand instinctively lurched for a loose tree branch - no, temple pillar - and she scrunched her watering, bloodshot eyes shut in pain. 

The atmosphere of the temple had completely, _literally_ , turned around. The wind pulsing from Sariel's body had suddenly reversed into a vacuum-like force, pulling anything and _everything_ towards her, up becoming down, down becoming up. 

And where Sariel had been mere moments earlier, was nothing but a ruthless, empty vortex. 

Rather, it was more that Sariel had _become_ the vacuum, leaving behind only an echo. Nothing remained but the ghastly, striking shape of the angel and her six wings, cut into the air of the temple from which her body had been forcefully ripped. 

"Wh-what the hell are you doing!? Answer me, youkai!!"

But Reimu could scarcely even hear her own voice anymore; the vacuum was now so intense that even sound struggled to escape it. Reimu scrunched her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. Reimu's stomach trembled, her guts felt like they were drowning, she couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t felt like this since the day her mother disappeared... half a year ago.

Through the heat of her adrenaline-fuelled body, Reimu felt the cool trickle of drips. Tears, being tugged from her nose into the abyss. But her terrified, trembling fists still held tight to the gohei and yin yang orbs her mother left her.

"M-mama..." Reimu mouthed a whimper, no longer able to hear her own voice. "Mama...! 

"I-I exterminated her, s-so why... why am I... am I going to die here...?"

What would mama do. What _would_ her mother do? Probably smile, then make some comment about how she needed to train harder or do some meditation. Even though she was so good at it! 

Reimu took a deep breath... and tried to center her energy. 

She always was... good at meditation... 

... ... ...

"Reimu," a gentle voice cut through the chaos, filling Reimu's head. 

“...!” Reimu felt her grip slipping slightly in shock.

"Did you let your guard down against a great youkai, little one? I thought you had been training _much_ harder than this," Reimu's nemesis taunted her. 

_Ugh_.

Sariel was still alive then. It wasn't the voice Reimu wanted to hear most after all. 

... But of course it wasn't. Mama wasn't around anymore. _Reimu_ was the Hakurei shrine maiden now. 

And Sariel was right. Yes Reimu's mind raced with fury, but Sariel was right! Reimu had been so wrapped up in fear, so wrapped up in anger, so wrapped up in mourning her mother that she had been a _pretty shoddy_ shrine maiden. Letting a pretentious, tricky, showy youkai like this get the better of her during her very first incident. 

Well! Reimu _was_ the Hakurei shrine maiden now, and this kind of lapse of judgement wouldn't happen again. If Reimu wanted answers, she would just have to exterminate Sariel until she got them!! 

"What did you do to my mother, _monster_!?" Reimu shouted with every inch of her composure, still unable to hear her own voice. Still clinging desperately to a pillar, Reimu swiftly moved her free hand to her front and shut her eyes, gathering energy in it. 

No response from Sariel. 

"I _know_ you can hear me!" Reimu continued to shout into the vacuum. As energy continued to build, her yin-yang orb finally returned to her, pushing through the vacuum to the energy calling it. 

It took a lot of focus, but Reimu was able to keep the orb steady by her hand. Okay, she could probably grab her gohei from her waist with the same hand if she was quick enough. She just... needed her other hand for her ofuda. With those three things, she could exterminate a great youkai! 

Then, she let go. 

"Answer me!" Reimu shouted, as she fell freely towards the abyss. "WHY!?" Reimu yelled, as she scrambled her freed-up hand to arm herself with a stack of ofuda. 

"Why do you have my mama’s _smile!?_ " she screamed. " _WHY DID YOU WEAR MY MAMA’S_ ** _FACE!?_ **" 

Soaring directly towards the vacuum where Sariel used to be... was almost like flying. 

Actually, it was the closest Reimu had ever gotten to flying all by herself. 

Reimu’s head and face felt overcome with such melancholy... anger, pride and sadness all at once. 

How she wished... her mother could see her exterminate a great youkai like this... 

“Oh, Reimu... if she were still here... she would be so, _so_ proud of you.” 

Sariel finally responded, almost as if she had been reading Reimu’s thoughts. Her voice echoed from every direction. 

And their bittersweet sting pierced Reimu’s heart. 

“Yes... yes that’s right...” Sariel mused, her disembodied voice wandering wistlessly. “To think, you may have left this place today without finishing the job, after _everything I've done._

“Your words assure me; monsters like myself simply... do not deserve forgiveness.” 

What? What on Earth was she talking about? 

“It was... _m-my_ horrible power that... extinguished your mother.” 

Reimu’s eyes... glazed over. 

How could she-... just like that. Confirm her biggest fear. Just like that. A horrible, nightmarish suspicion she’d refused to acknowledge for her own peace of mind. The _worst possible_ reality Reimu could imagine. 

_Just like that_. 

Reimu saw white.

“I-I-…!” Sariel’s voice rang through Reimu’s ears in a choked shriek of despair, as if reacting to the young shrine maiden’s horrified, broken expression. “No, I can’t do this,” she said. 

“I can’t. Dear I can’t do this I can’t do this” the angel’s shrieks filled the temple, “I can’t do this _I can’t do this_ **_I CAN’T DO THIS_ **, I’m s-” 

But she stopped herself. 

It wasn’t like Sariel’s words could even reach Reimu anymore. 

Sariel’s voice breathed in sharply. “I-I-… you must be brave,” she said. 

“That’s right... you must be brave,” Sariel repeated, assuredly. “Reimu, you must be brave. Please, _please_ forgive your foolish mother for the horrible things she has put you through, and _be brave._ ” 

Still Reimu hurtled towards the eye of the vortex, too distraught to notice Sariel’s words. Far too engulfed in despair to hear Sariel’s shaken voice dramatically clearing her throat.

“Reimu, to simply ‘defeat’ a horrible youkai like me isn’t enough!” Sariel projected her voice, the faintest hint of a tremble still lining her words. “If you don’t fulfil your duty and seal me and this temple forever, I will _surely_ destroy you, just as I did _her_...!” 

Reimu, of course, scarcely even heard Sariel. 

Reimu couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even scream anymore. 

Reimu couldn't breathe. Reimu couldn't think. Reimu couldn’t feel her face through the ringing, unfathomable stinging in her forehead. Reimu could only bite down hard on her lip, just to check if she still had any feeling left in her body at all. 

This thing killed her mother.

This **THING**. TOOK HER MOTHER. AWAY. FROM. HER.

‘ **_and I’ll never. EVER. SEE HER AGAIN._ **’ 

... 

It was with blind, hot fury that Reimu used every ounce of spiritual energy she had to charge the core of Sariel's vortex. 

Crashing her yin-yang orb directly to its nucleus, Reimu's eyes lit ablaze with a fury she had never in her life experienced before. 

Aiming ofuda into every corner of the vortex, Reimu sealed it up. 

Drowning that detestable silhouette in ofuda, Reimu sealed her up. 

Scattering ofuda all around the temple, Reimu sealed it. 

Even as her mind raged with anguish at the family she’d lost, she had to be the Hakurei shrine maiden. 

Ofuda, ofuda, _ofuda_.

Even as her eyes cascaded with relentless tears, she had to be the Hakurei shrine maiden. 

Seal, _seal,_ ** _seal_ **. 

During Reimu Hakurei's first ever incident resolution, she completely lost her composure. 

She remembered returning from Makai in a trance-like state. Exhausted, aching all over. She remembered that she didn't exactly handle the extermination with much grace. 

Luckily no one else really paid any attention. At all. 

When she returned home, there was a huge amount of energy stored in her yin-yang orb. She couldn't really remember how it got there. 

Still, there was enough power in the orb for her to wish her destroyed shrine back to normal again, at least. 

No one paid attention to this, either. 

It’s not like there was anyone around anyway. The shrine, once illuminated by the smiles of a happy mother and daughter, was now a quiet, lonely place inhabited by a sole shrine maiden and her old pet turtle. 

In fact, she didn't even get any new worshippers. 

Oh well. Maybe she would get some after the next incident. 

She’d surely be exterminating a lot of youkai from now on. She’d been brought up to believe youkai were the enemy, after all. And _whatever_ had happened in that incident certainly made her detest them more than ever. 

That's right. Youkai were her enemy.

Reimu sat at the steps of her shrine and sipped calmly at a cup of tea. 

... By herself. 

A light tremble reminded her that her mother wasn't around to join her anymore. 

But when she thought about how she couldn't really remember the day's events, she just shrugged. 

It wasn't until her head hit her pillow that night that the final words Reimu heard that day rang out in her mind again. 

"I'll always watch over you, ReiRei. Always. 

Now, until the moment you die." 

She couldn't even remember where she had heard them, but there was only one person who had ever called her 'ReiRei'. 

That night, Reimu quietly cried herself to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the bait-and-switches in this fic huh. There's a flashback/present pattern though, so maybe some of you expected that this would be a flashback chapter of sorts?
> 
> It may be obvious by now, but this chapter is a retelling of the finale of Touhou 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers. It's a lot more dramatic than the game was, involving the Sariel who had a personal, emotional relationship with the Hakurei.
> 
> This time I'm only uploading one chapter. Both this and the next chapter make up the climax of the story, and I thought posting both of them at once might be a little too heavy.
> 
> Despite her being a major character, this chapter is Sariel's first obvious speaking role. What did you think of her? What's up with that uncanny face of hers?
> 
> It seems like she's done something really awful to Reimu, but she seems to be in a lot of pain too. There are so many mysteries and unanswered questions remaining, if you have any thoughts or theories please leave a comment, they always make me really happy.
> 
> See you all in two weeks for the Chapter 12, this story's climax and biggest event!
> 
> \------------  
> Glossary:
> 
> Evil Eye - In Judaic mythology, Evil Eyes are curses that can be caused by a malevolent glare. In Touhou, Evil Eyes are a type of youkai seen in the PC98 era.  
> ofuda - a charm-inscribed strip of paper used in Shintoism, as amulets or talisman for purification or exorcism.


	12. VI - NOW, UNTIL THE MOMENT YOU DIE (Part 1)

Reimu stepped forward. Even in ruins, the immaculate finish of the temple's flooring shimmered in a mystical, enigmatic light. 

Gradually, tile by tile, the floor began to fall away. Tiles became lost below in a dark, golden abyss that appeared as though its depths were endless. Above her, the tall, looming, carved walls and stained windows stretched higher and higher, brighter and brighter, out of sight. Reimu craned her neck up and squinted; she couldn't see a ceiling, only a pure white light at the furthest point her eyes could reach. 

Her eyes fell forward, it didn't feel like anything special. In fact, it was actually a little pretentious. 

Clack, she kicked the bottom of her shoe against the nothingness where the floor fell away. It shimmered in reaction. Solid... smooth... like it was made entirely of glass. 

It reminded her a little of the Dream World actually. Or, maybe that was because this entire incident had seemed so nightmarish. 

Cautiously, Reimu begun to explore the temple's endless, labyrinthine halls and corridors. Some ceilings and archways fell low and cavernous, while the walls of other rooms looked as though they reached the heavens themselves. Huge, floating crosses and orbs hung in the air, beautiful yet ominous. 

Yet despite the unending space, Reimu's spiritual senses and intuition felt sharper than ever now that the _noise_ of the incident had finally faded. A few short minutes of flight were all it took to find her target. 

There, floating in the center of a huge hall, caped in sheer white, that must have been the youkai behind all this. 

... Sariel. 

Fallen archangel. Steward of the dead land of Vina. 

Youkai. 

_Murderer_. 

"You... killed her? Didn't you?" Reimu accused, pointing her gohei at the monster. 

And for the first time in living memory, the steadfast combative grip of Hakurei’s fearless shrine maiden hid a slight tremble. Further betraying her anxiety, Reimu’s arm notably flinched when the grand figure finally begun to stir. 

Slowly, gracefully, uncannily, Sariel’s white cloak began to unfurl; as if emerging from a cocoon. 

Six terrifying, huge wings fell around the figure's sides, revealing a woman with a long purple dress and hair that glowed iridescently, as white as those magnificent wings. 

Eyes shot open; the only animated piece of a face as inanimate and dead as a finely-sculpted statue's. They slid open as if they'd been expecting the company, as if they'd been open the entire time, just waiting to be _perceived_. 

Once those glass-like, empty, soulless orbs took in Reimu though, they shimmered with a deep fascination. 

And Sariel’s beautiful, stone-like face smiled. 

Reimu's heart missed a beat, and her breath stuttered. 

That was it. That was the smile she'd been seeing in her nightmares. Not just the nightmares she’d been having in recent months, no. Fine, sand-like inkling rekindled in her mind and Reimu became sure: she’d been seeing that smile in dreams, occasionally, sporadically, for _years_ now. For _as long as she’d been a shrine maiden_. 

Deeply buried memories of her childhood encounter with Sariel came rushing back to her. 

Sariel was the youkai with her mother's smile. The youkai who wore her mother's face in her nightmares. 

Sariel opened her mouth. 

"Reimu..." 

The word slipped out, alone, empty in emotion. 

The youkai shut her eyes and took a deep breath, reanimating her stone-dead face. A little colour teased its way onto her lifeless, grey cheeks. 

Then, that smile returning to her lips, Sariel began to float towards Reimu. 

"Reimu!" she repeated with a little more gusto. "My... god! My _god_ , look at how much you've _grown_!" she chimed; gleeful, almost emotional weight building with each and every word. 

Fearful reflex struck and Reimu skimmed back a few steps to distance herself from the monster. Reimu jerked her gohei in her hand again, making sure to shake it, _violently_ , in Sariel's direction. 

"You killed her, _didn't you_?" Reimu repeated. 

"I guided you here with what little energy I'd been able to recover after you sealed me, it was not easy let me tell you! Your mother always told me how powerful Hakurei seals were, but goodness!” 

"Shut up and _listen_!" 

Was she willfully ignoring Reimu? Could Sariel even hear her? The monster just continued to drift towards Reimu, a forced smile cracking through that _pained, bittersweet_ gaze in her eyes. 

“It must have been nothing other than fate that you passed by Makai and allowed my calls to reach you so soon before Vina’s ultimate demise, I was truly about to give up hope of ever seeing you again-" 

_Thwip_ _._

A lock of hair was chopped right off of Sariel's head by a precisely-aimed amulet. Her eyes widened, a sharp gasp escaped her lips, and she stopped in her tracks. 

"Finally listening?" Reimu scowled. 

Sariel merely hung in the air. Her empty eyes trembled. 

"I... finally remember everything I'd buried so deeply. I mean, my memory’s never been great, but to think I was so traumatised that I forgot you even _existed_? That’s messed up,” Reimu huffed at her own thorny joke. Then she clenched her fist around her gohei , “I was just a _kid,_ that’s _messed up!_ ” 

Sariel stared at Reimu like she’d just been stabbed. 

“Guess I should be thankful you kept calling after me, because _clearly_ I didn't do a good enough job last time," Reimu declared. "So I've come to finish this. I've come to exterminate you, once and for all!" 

Sariel's animated arms and wings fell to her sides. Her expression sunk, and she nodded. 

"Yes," Sariel responded emptily. "I suppose that's the fate I ultimately deserve, after everything I've done." 

Reimu's arm lowered. "Huh?" she raised a confused, angry eyebrow. "... You're just going to _let me_ exterminate you? You know I mean _kill you_ , right?" 

"Indeed, I deserve extermination" Sariel nodded. "I had this selfish wish to see you just one more time... to see the sort of woman you had become... and now you have granted that wish. I have caused more than enough damage, enough suffering and heartbreak to the lives of Vina... Makai... Gensokyo... you. That's enough. I’ve done _enough_. 

“I think it best if... now becomes the moment I finally die.” 

Reimu threateningly thrust out her gohei once more, to no reaction. 

Reimu threw an ofuda at Sariel's cheek. It effortlessly sliced through her, leaking what was probably some of what little blood she had left. 

No reaction. 

No. Reimu clenched her free fist. _No_! This couldn't be _it_. 

She couldn't have come all this way, gone through _months_ of self-torment and nightmares and _worrying her friends_ just for _this_! Just... _exterminating her_? 

Reimu had become so convinced all she wanted was to end this, to get ‘revenge’, but... 

This didn't feel satisfying at all. No scramble for survival? No _answers_? 

"Unluckily for you," Reimu broke the silence, a light tremble in her tone, "I don't plan to let you off until I finally get some answers, even if I have to beat them out of you!" 

Sariel's eyes fluttered, avoiding Reimu's gaze. Her mouth briefly appeared to twitch, ever so slightly. 

"If I were you, I would not want to give me that kind of chance," Sariel moped. 

Moping. _Moping_? After all Sariel had done, she was _not_ in a position to be moping or feeling sorry for herself! 

"You need convincing, apparently," Reimu sighed. She shrugged with a smirk, finally slipping on the confidence of a youkai exterminator that had only gotten stronger and stronger since their last encounter. "When you hear the cries of my spellcards, maybe then you'll want to _repent_ , youkai!" 

Twitch. Was Reimu imagining things? She could have sworn she saw the corner of Sariel's soulless lips twitching. _Again_. 

"Spell cards..." Sariel muttered breathlessly. "What was it you always call it... a clash of wills? A clash of passions? Could you truly allow your nemesis to do something so dangerous? So _selfish?_ " she asked, sounding almost afraid of the prospect. 

But Reimu was more concerned about something else. 

"How... do _you_ know that?" 

"Did you forget, Reimu?" Sariel tilted her head, enchantingly empty eyes piercing Reimu’s. "The last thing I said to you before you sealed me..." 

‘ _I'll always watch over you. Always._

_Now, until the moment you die._ ’ 

Reimu's brow twitched as she reflexively snatched a stack of ofuda up in her fingers. "Y-you've been watching me, too!?" she said with a snarl, brandishing the amulets at Sariel. 

"Ah..." Sariel grimaced sheepishly. "Well I suppose that could be easily misconstrued, yes-" 

" _ENOUGH!_ " Reimu barked. With a sharp kick of her feet, she rocketed into the air and darted right towards Sariel with a face full of homing amulets. 

Sariel's own eyebrow twitched and her eyes shot wide. From Reimu's frighteningly furious face alone, Sariel found herself sailing backwards and raising her staff defensively. She didn't even _want_ to fight back; it was as if the shock of Reimu's attack alone urged her into action. 

"Please! Just _exterminate me_ , Reimu!" Sariel tried to convince herself as energy reflexively travelled up her arm. "Hurry and put this monster out of her misery like she _deserves_!” 

"Says the one fighting back!" Reimu yelled, the faintest hints of an exhilarated smirk flickering upon her face. 

"Dammit," escaped Sariel's lips, her eyes more spirited than ever. She'd dodged most of Reimu's homing amulets but some of them still stung. She'd zipped to the side, only to be met with a barrage of Reimu's needles, slicing her dress, punching against her flesh. " _Dammit!_ " 

Her movements intensified. Her heart shuddered with thrill at each new attack from Reimu, her haunted glare became more and more animated with each passing moment. 

_This_ is a spellcard duel... a _spellcard_ _duel_!! 

No matter how she tried to deny it, Sariel had been secretly _hoping_ she could die this way. 

Sariel had always wanted a spellcard duel. Sariel had always wanted to face Reimu in a spellcard duel. Sariel had always wanted to see how strong Reimu had grown! 

"Fine... very well then. I accept," Sariel winced down the pain in acceptance. "I accept with the full power of Sariel, Fallen Archangel of the Civilisation of Magic!" she declared. 

Then, she turned to Reimu with the same gentle smile she had worn earlier. 

The smile of Reimu's mother. 

"Show me the spellcard duels of Reimu Hakurei's Gensokyo!!" Sariel bellowed. 

That kind smile finally flickered into an excited grin, and the great youkai threw her arms out. Staff outstretched; bullets begun to pour relentlessly from all six of her wings and her staff began to trickle a phasing beam of white light – aimed directly at Reimu. 

Gohei outstretched, Reimu yelled " _Persuasion Needle!_ " and each and every one of Sariel's orb-like bullets was immediately matched and punctured by one of Reimu's needles. 

The moment Reimu started charging towards Sariel though, bullets suddenly seemed to pour from all across the temple _itself_. Orbs, crosses, even pillars, all firing ruthlessly at Reimu. 

"This entire temple is a part of me, Reimu. I'll defeat you and you'll grant me a merciful extermination as my prize. My secrets shall die _with me_!" 

" _Coward!_ " Reimu scowled, trying her hardest to keep a thrilled smirk from her own face. She rushed through the center of Sariel's bullet-barrage, right towards the youkai's body, trying to ram her full of ofuda point-blank. "You _owe_ me an explanation after everything you've done! I won't _let you_ run away and die!" 

But Sariel was far too quick for Reimu’s amulets; she evaded, and evaded, and evaded. With each blink, Sariel's body literally phased before Reimu’s eyes, reappearing further and further out of reach. Again and again she phased, drifting, materialising higher and higher into the temple's endlessly reaching apex. 

Reimu gave chase, but even at Reimu's fastest, Sariel's mighty wings surged her with a speed that in the moment seemed almost unparalleled among youkai. 

“Shit!” 

Reimu just barely skimmed aside in time to avoid a colossal beam of light; one that had appeared so suddenly it certainly would have hit her full force if she had so much as blinked. That thing came from Sariel’s staff!? 

... **_FWOOOM._ **

The eventual impact resounded incredibly through the echoey temple from what must have been miles away. Despite the distance, Reimu was still forced to shield her eyes from how intensely bright it was. Then more lasers, one after the other, kept Reimu barreling side to side while she tried to rocket after the angel's monstrously imposing figure. 

' _Dammit!_ ' Reimu clenched her teeth in thought, centering her spiritual energy into bolstering her flight speed. ' _I had no idea there was a youkai this powerful in Makai, she's completely different to when I was a kid!_ ' 

" _Great Barrier: Hakurei_ _Danmaku_ _Barrier!_ " Reimu yelled out, forming a barrier of bullets around her that would hopefully chip away at Sariel's energy while Reimu focused on catching up to her. 

" _Evil Eyes: Archangel's Satellite!_ " Sariel's voice reverberated around the tower. Then, from the endless white glow of the temple walls, dozens upon dozens of Evil Eyes took shape and divebombed Reimu, keeping her moving and evading when she could have been charging. 

" _STOP RUNNING!_ " Reimu yelled again, but Sariel had once more dipped away from her sight. 

Wearing her mother's smile while running away was completely unforgiveable. Reimu had never met a youkai so... cowardly!! If she couldn't catch up to Sariel with speed alone, she'd have to try something else. 

' _Please work in Makai, please work in Makai..._ ' Reimu thought to herself. With the full force of her arm, Reimu lobbed a string of homing amulets and a few spirit orbs towards the heavens. 

Breathe... breathe... flawlessly, she centered her energy into her body, right as another of Sariel's gargantuan beams of light tore right toward her-- 

\-- Then Reimu slipped just slightly to the side... and vanished. 

The Evil Eyes that Sariel peered through all witnessed Reimu disappear. Completely. 

Sariel’s eye twitched. 

"Did I get her with that beam?" Sariel questioned. She frowned and, curiously spreading her wings above her, finally slowed to a stop. 

Where had Reimu gone, Sariel thought? She sighed, she scowled, she floated a little way back down the temple's endless shaft. Her eyes darted about. 

Surely there was no way Reimu had been defeated that easily. 

"Reimu?" Sariel said. "You can come out now." 

... _Crackle... crick crick.._. 

Sariel immediately spun on the spot in reflex and - ** _SMASH_** \- in less than a moment she flung a razor of energy crashing clean through a crumbling pillar, sending it silently plummeting down into the abyssal temple below. 

Then... nothing. 

Sariel silenced all of her danmaku. Her eyes darted around. The flutter of the feathers on her wings were the only thing she could hear anymore. 

She furrowed her brow. 

"Come now, Reimu. This is quite tedious." 

Nothing. She flew towards the very spot Reimu vanished from, and peered around the space she had last seen her. 

Still... nothing. 

Her head span around. "Reimu!?" Sariel called out. "You said you wanted to fight me, so out come and fight me!" 

... Still... _nothing_... 

Sariel's fists begun to quietly tremble at her sides. She held a fist to her chest. She spun around and shot bullets every odd direction. 

"Th-that's enough!" Sariel stammered. Reimu couldn't have left her alone _already_ , could she? "Come out this instant, ReiRe-" 

" _Barrier: SEAMS OF THE TUMULTOUS WORLD!_ " 

" ** _Wh-what!?_** " 

A hole opened in reality _itself_ right before Sariel’s eyes, like a crack in space and time - and Reimu swiftly emerged with a point-blank strike. 

" _Shit-!!_ " Sariel yelled, throwing her arms and wings forward to try and block the worst of Reimu's blow. Reimu rammed right into her, slamming the angel’s back against the inner-tower’s light-bathed wall. 

Emboldened by the full force of her physical and spiritual might, the youkai exterminator pinned the youkai ruthlessly. Her hand gripped ofuda over Sariel’s arm, stopping energy from running through it. Her knee jabbed roughly into the monster’s stomach. And she scowled, hovering her gohei mere inches from Sariel’s face. 

“It’s over. How _anticlimactic,_ ” Reimu snarled. “Ready to wipe my mother’s smile off your face and confess what the hell you _did_ to her already?” 

But Sariel wasn’t smiling; her own expression had furrowed too. 

"Wh-where... on _Earth_ did you learn a spellcard like that?" she said, glowering a resentful glare back into Reimu's eyes. "Using that detestable _gap woman’s_ abilities!? _Really,_ Reimu!?" 

"Huh? The hell is it to _you_!?" Reimu couldn't help but flinch for some reason, her stomach churning with some surreal sense of guilt. "You don't even _know_ Yukari!" 

"Don't _know_ her-!?" Sariel stuttered, then corrected herself. "I _loathe_ that woman!" she snapped, gritting her teeth, struggling angrily under Reimu’s grip. “Oh how _hilariously_ hypocritical of that horrible, heartless devil to allow you to get close to her, as if she’s completely forgotten it was _her fault_ that we-, that I-…" 

Suddenly, Sariel fell silent, her eyes falling wide. She stopped struggling. 

With no opposing force, the sheer force of Reimu’s pinning crushed Sariel into the wall, briefly winding her. Reimu’s gohei pushed and briefly skimmed against the stony flesh of Sariel’s face. 

Sariel flinched, letting out a sharp yelp of pain. No longer struggling against Sariel’s might, Reimu easily hovered her gohei over the monster’s neck, ready to strike at any point. 

“Enough hiding things, you _lost_.” 

“Ahh heavens... look at me,” Sariel mused with slight strain. “Getting so upset about things that happened decades ago...” 

She shifted her wistful gaze towards Reimu’s eyes. “I _am_ truly sorry, but I can’t tell you. I’m not supposed to. I don’t _deserve_ to,” she said with a weak smile. 

“Just... take your revenge.” 

And Reimu _seethed_ , overcome with the ferocious snarl of a mighty beast she intensified her grip on Sariel, shoving her nemesis against the stone wall, gohei pressed just slightly to the angel's neck. 

Sariel let out a wince, a _gasp_ , her breaths became unsteady, her heart-rate rising quickly, the sheer loathing she felt from Reimu stabbing into her heart _over and over_ like a knife. 

“Y-you’re really going to kill me, aren’t you...?” Sariel muttered, a slight tremble in her words. She pulled her head back to avoid the pain of the gohei. Her eyes wide, almost horrified, welled more and more with each moment they stared back into the unforgiving, _hateful_ fury of Reimu’s own. 

“Shut it! I’ll be merciful if you just **_TALK_** _ALREADY_!!” Reimu roared, threateningly thunking Sariel’s head against the wall. 

Sariel’s jaw trembled slightly, forcing a weak smile. 

“Reimu... you’ve become so, _so_ beautiful,” her strained voice cracked. “R-really... you’re the spitting image... you look _just_ like her...” 

“I don't want to hear that of all things from the monster who _stole her face_!!” 

Sariel's throat let out a sudden whimper of despair as Reimu pressed her gohei more roughly against the angel’s neck. Tears begun to trickle from those wide, horrified, grape-coloured eyes. 

And Reimu hesitated. Her heart kept making this horrible, thumping _lurching_ in her chest. 

But so what if this time was different? She simply pushed down the hesitation as she had done so many times before. She scowled. She burnt Sariel’s neck with her gohei _again_. 

“B-be brave, Reimu...!” Sariel stuttered, while tears streamed down her cheeks. “That’s what she always said, you must be brave. You must do this; you must finally smite me with the fate I _deserve_...! 

Reimu tried to make herself press her gohei harder into Sariel’s skin, and Sariel _screamed_ . A scream drenched in agony, heartbreak; like a punch to Reimu’s gut. Even Reimu couldn’t prevent her own eyes from welling in reflex at Sariel’s visceral despair, her mind almost drawing a blank from this overwhelming combination of fury, questions, _confusion_. 

“If you deserve this, stop _moping_ !” Reimu yelled in exasperation. “S-stop telling _me_ to be brave! What the hell is wrong with you!? What kind of great evil youkai _cries_ when she’s about to die!?” 

“Be brave, be brave, _be brave-_ !” Sariel only repeated between desperate gasps. She scrunched her tear-soaked eyes shut, her breathing increasingly rapid from the searing pain of Reimu’s gohei burning away the flesh at her neck, “I. Must. _Be._ ** _Brave!!_**

"If you were _really_ brave, you’d tell me the _truth_!!” Reimu shouted. 

“I **must** -, I-I-…" 

Sariel fell silent. 

Her face, still red from trickling tears, calmed. Her breathing steadied just slightly; calm breaths brushed her neck painfully against the burn of the gohei. She took another, deep, breath. 

Be brave and accept death? Was that really what Lady Hakurei would have wanted? Was that really what ‘bravery’ was to her? 

The shrine maiden who fell in love with a youkai... that woman’s definition of ‘brave’ was something Sariel could hardly even comprehend. 

Her definition of brave was possibility. Chance. _Hope_. 

And if Reimu had somehow gotten close to Yukari... despite everything Yukari had done... then... maybe. Just _maybe_. 

“Decided to stop crying, huh?” Reimu anxiously forced herself to wear a smile. “Don’t die a coward. Confess your sins and die with honour, youkai.” 

Sariel chuckled a weak, stuttered laugh, and smiled. “She... always did say I cried too much.” 

Reimu quietly pouted. She was far too distracted by the ruthless, confused pounding in her head to notice that the both of them were slowly sinking towards the wall. 

"Reimu..." Sariel muttered. “I genuinely don't think I deserve to be heard out." 

Reimu shivered. "B-but what about me? What about what I want...!?" she replied weakly. It was like that last conversation with Sariel had emotionally exhausted her. 

Sariel nodded, "Yes... what we think we deserve is often different to what we want, isn’t it?” 

As Sariel spoke, Reimu’s grip on her dissolved. Her knee and gohei, which had pinned Sariel mere moments ago, thunked against the light stone. Sariel had been sinking into the wall itself. 

"Let's play hide and seek one last time, ReiRei. For old time's sake?" the entire temple echoed. 

Reimu spun around on the spot, furiously flailing her arm. "H-how **_dare_** **you-** " 

But Sariel was no longer there. Reimu could only just make out the angel's haunting silhouette fading into the walls of the temple itself, trickling down the tower towards those labyrinthine halls, completely out of reach. 

So, she was running away. 

_Again_. 

"No! NO! Stop _RUNNING!_ ” Reimu screamed. “ ** _COWAAARD!_** " 

She was really losing her patience with this woman. 

It was almost more... _annoying_ , than infuriating. 

"I'm somewhere in the temple, ReiReiii. Come find me!" came the echo of her annoying, condescending voice. 

Tch. Fine then. There were worse ways to have a final battle with a youkai, Reimu supposed. Swallowing her irritated pride, Reimu descended back down from the endlessly high main tower. Tapping lightly to the ground of the temple's main nave, Reimu begun her search. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glossary: 
> 
> Evil Eye - In Judaic mythology, Evil Eyes are curses that can be caused by a malevolent glare. In Touhou, Evil Eyes are a type of youkai seen in the PC98 era.  
> ofuda - a charm-inscribed strip of paper used in Shintoism, as amulets or talisman for purification or exorcism.


	13. VI - NOW, UNTIL THE MOMENT YOU DIE (Part 2)

Sariel must have been a fool. Going up against both Reimu's sixth sense _and_ her expertise as a youkai hunter? Playing hide and seek with a _youkai_ would be child’s play for Reimu. 

Reimu turned into a dark corridor. Feeling her hand along its intricately carved walls, she shut her eyes and felt for Sariel's energy. 

"Your mother and I were really close. Did you know that, ReiRei?" came her voice, once again chattier than the moping youkai from a few minutes ago. 

"I did," Reimu responded plainly. "Shinki told me everything. About how you and my mother used to be inseparable, 'til I came along and ruined everything." 

"Oh...! Oh dear," A stiff giggle echoed through the temple's walls. "Is that what Shinki told you? I-... I thought we were on good terms..." 

"N-no..." Reimu pouted guiltily. She opened her eyes; the dark corridor she walked through now appeared more like a rich forest. "… That was just the conclusion I drew." 

"I see," Sariel muttered. A snapping twig a few feet ahead had Reimu dashing to locate the source, only to find an Evil Eye fluttering away like an owl in the night. 

"The truth is I failed both of you." Sariel continued. "I let her die, and because of that Yukari woman, I couldn't-..." 

She stopped herself. 

"Couldn't what?" Reimu scowled. 

"Watch over you, til the day you died. That's what I always told her I’d do," Sariel explained. 

"Don't think I'd want someone who murdered my mom to look over me, anyway," Reimu continued to argue back. 

"Th-that's not how it--!" 

Sariel stopped herself. Her loud sigh reverberated through the halls. "No... you're right. I've told myself all these years that it was my fault she died. How pathetic would it be if I suddenly started making excuses now?" 

Reimu's heart sunk. Her stomach once again churned with that uncanny, surreal uncertainty and guilt. 

Was this pitiful self-depreciation really the words of the murderous youkai? The mastermind who bitterly killed her mother and wanted to take her out too? 

Reimu came across a smaller, dark room with a low-arched ceiling. Images - memories - flickered across the walls. They brought back awful memories of Reimu's first encounter with Sariel, the images flashing up here were largely the same as back then. Makai, her shrine, Reimu herself. 

At the head of the room was a small altar-like relief. Reimu approached out of curiosity; it was adorned with a photo, a small red ribbon, and an old note. 

"Where are you hiding, Sariel!?" Reimu vaguely called out to the room around her, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from the photo. She took it from the altar and held a glowing orb over it. 

There, in the photo, was a black-haired woman with a white-haired woman. They had their arms around each other, and they looked... really happy. The black-haired woman must have been her mother. 

At least, she thought it was her mother. It was familiar, like a distant memory that clawed at the corners of her mind, but she struggled to recognise the woman's face. The other woman was definitely Sariel though; Sariel's face was far more recognisable, right down to the smile that looked like- 

N-no hang on, that couldn't be right. 

Reimu's eyes trembled as she stared again at the photo. Double-take, triple-take. No matter how much she looked, she could hardly recognise her own mother's smile. 

Only Sariel's. 

_*CLACK*_

Reimu set the photo face-down in an anxious rush, and immediately chose to distract herself with the note beside it instead. 

"I loved her... _so_ much," came Sariel's voice from somewhere behind the altar. "She was _everything_ to me. Well... her and one other person." 

Shut up, Reimu thought. After noting to check behind the altar, she again tried to focus on the letter instead. 

It was a simple thing. She recognised the handwriting to be that of the previous Hakurei. It read; 

' _My beloved,_

_Promise you'll always watch over_ _Reimu_ _for me. For as long as you possibly can._

_If you can do that for me, for us, I will be forever be in your debt. Truly._

_But... even if you cannot, please never forget how unconditionally I care for you._

_No matter what happens to you, my treasured Sariel, I will always, always love you._

_And... I'm so, so sorry. For everything._

_Be brave._ ' 

Yeah, reading the note was a terrible idea. 

By the time Reimu tried to set the note down, her fists were trembling. Her blood was boiling. She bit her lip in attempt to quell the quivering. 

"She... loved you," Reimu said. "You're one of the only people she left _anything_ to! She barely even left any notes to _me!_ God, I didn't want to believe Shinki _or_ you but she really did love you, apparently! And you _still_ ** _betrayed_** her!?" 

"..." 

Reimu's trembling voice was met with silence. 

She clutched at the platform and eased her way around in the dark, to its backside. There, in a tiny crevice at the foot of the back of the altar... the smallest glint of blue glow. 

With a small shove, Reimu revealed a staircase heading even deeper into the temple. 

As Reimu crept down a long, stone, spiral staircase, more images from her and Sariel's memories flickered across the walls and steps. 

Shinki smiling... her mother smiling... Reimu happily reading a book... Reimu talking with Genjii... 

But nothing beyond Reimu's childhood. Sariel hadn't done a very thorough job of 'watching' her. 

"So, your idea of watching over me for her was... spying on me from behind your seal and then luring me in to kill me?" 

"You... don't understand," Sariel's voice finally responded. “I never, ever intended to hurt you, I-” 

"What's there to understand!?" Reimu snapped, quickly losing her temper again. "You're the one who refuses to tell me anything!" 

"I failed her, it is my fault she died. I failed you by causing you such pain as a child. I shall atone by letting you exterminate me. That’s the deal, remember?" 

Sariel was starting to sound like a broken record. Almost like she was trying to convince herself, not Reimu. 

"I never wanted a creep like you watching over me in the first place, but I'm still disgusted that you'd rather mope, spout crap about atonement and _die_ than keep your final promise to her. Guess I shouldn't have expected my mother's _murderer_ to honour her final request any differently." 

"... What?" 

"In that note. She _asked you_ to watch over me." 

Reimu thought she heard the sound of a stuttered whimper. 

Then, another stiff silence followed. 

So Reimu kept following the stairs down, down, deeper, until she reached the temple's catacombs. They were _bathed_ in the iridescent, fantastical glow of crystals and magical energy. The walls of the great caverns were littered in images of those haunting memories. 

It was then that Reimu finally heard a deep, shaken sigh. A single white feather fluttered down from the caverns' ceiling before Reimu’s eyes. 

“... She... asked me to be brave, didn’t she?” Sariel’s voice broke the silence. The tremble in her tone echoed eerily around the caverns. 

“She did,” Reimu responded. She scrunched her face irritably, “But it’s your note, shouldn’t you _know_ that?” 

“It’s... been a long while since I last read it, ahaha...” she chuckled weakly. "I'm so sorry, my beloved... being sealed away truly does awful things to one’s memory and sense of perspective." 

"Making excuses now, youkai?" Reimu said. She kicked from the ground and begun to explore the catacombs for the source of Sariel’s voice. 

Sariel huffed another weak laugh. "Yes, I suppose so," she admitted. "I mean, I just remembered that I can't let myself die after all! 

“I'm so sorry, ReiRei, as much as I deserve to die, and as much as you deserve to kill me..." 

Suddenly, the cavern's walls shimmered in cascade, becoming overwhelmed by a single, haunting memory. 

The image of the previous Hakurei's smile. A smile Reimu barely recognised. 

"If she saw how pitiful I had become, after always asking me to be brave? I could never show my face to her in the afterlife.” 

That's when, just like Vina, the cave's walls suddenly came alive with a mind of their own. 

Stalactites, crystals, spears of water and ice became danmaku before Reimu's eyes, darting at her from every direction, the shrine maiden just barely skimming a fierce assault with her gohei and yin-yang orbs. 

"Ugh!" Reimu yelped. "Enough hide and seek, where the hell _are_ you!?" 

"You always were far too good at hide and seek, ReiRei. So now that you’re all grown up I don't think I should hold back anymore. Plus I can't help but feel filled with courage when I watch the way you so beautifully dance with danmaku, oh how I missed this!” 

"So what, you repay her by trying to kill me after all!?" 

"Come _on_ ReiRei. If this playful danmaku kills you then I'll _know_ you were going easy on me!" 

Just as Sariel spoke, a tiny rock fell from the ceiling and gave Reimu a playful *bonk* on the head. She darted her eyes up to see... a memory of _herself as a kid_ , teasingly sticking her tongue out. Ugh! 

"Okay seriously, it’s creepy that you can just project _my_ memories all over the place like this too.” 

Another giggle, accompanied by a series of pillars rocketing from the ground, crushing Reimu into a small crevice in the cavern’s ceiling. 

"Yours?” Sariel said. “I don't know if you've noticed, but people don't tend to see _themselves_ in their own memories, and there’s only one person missing from these." 

Reimu blasted through the rock, darting her eyes around. The image of her young self, sticking her tongue out, lined and decorated every wall and ceiling around her. 

There was... no way... 

"Every single one of them is one of _my_ memories, ReiRei. They appear depending on my mental state... it’s a little embarrassing actually.” 

Then... _so that meant_... 

No, but that _didn't make sense_ . There were memories of _Reimu's_ _childhood_ here. Memories of her shrine maiden training, even memories of her playing with Rinnosuke! 

The only person with her at those times... was... 

“It may be hard to hear this from a youkai you currently consider your nemesis, but I love you _so_ much, ReiRei. The more I see your danmaku, the more I hear your voice after all this time, the more I _remember_... I cannot help but want to be selfish, just this once." 

"Just this once!?" Reimu yelled. Sariel's voice was close, _really_ close. "Was trying to kill us not selfish enough for you!?" 

"But I didn't! If it were up to me, she would never have died! I never would have had to _leave you!_ "

Focusing her orbs before her, Reimu blasted through a wall of crystal to be met with a gigantic, crystal cavern that glowed and sparkled blue from every direction. 

There, gigantic wings hovering in the middle of the abyssal cave, was Sariel. 

Finally. 

"See, you already found me!" Sariel smiled. "I can't even selfishly enjoy a game of hide and seek with my ReiRei, she's even better at seeking youkai than she is at meditating!” 

"Enough!! _Stop_ calling me 'ReiRei', only _she_ called me that!" Reimu shouted, launching herself toward the core of the abyssal cavern. 

"Hmmm? _Who_ called you that?" Sariel responded, still with that gentle smile. “Better not have been that gap woman!” 

Reimu rapidly closed the distance between herself and her target, and bit her tongue. She got a better look at the youkai’s face. She noticed that tears had been trickling down Sariel's red cheeks. 

Smiling through those tears; it was an image also too hauntingly familiar. A faint memory of Reimu saying ' _don't cry, mama_ ' clawed at the cusp of Reimu’s mind. 

"No matter how much I love you both, my being a youkai still caused you such horrible trauma. Yet the more I see you, the more desperately I wish for a second chance after all. I have no idea what to do anymore, you know!?" Sariel said, her voice cracking. 

The angel clasped her hands together. "Beloved, is it really okay for me to have a second chance?” she asked, looking up to the glowing crystal ceiling as her wet, grape-coloured eyes shimmered a mystical turquoise beneath them. 

“I shall let _our treasured_ _Reimu_ be the one who decides my fate!" 

“You suddenly want our forgiveness, after everything you’ve done!? When you won’t even tell her daughter the _truth!?_ ” Reimu snapped! She was tired of the _running_! Tired of the _memories_! Tired of being reminded of a mother she felt like she _barely knew_! 

“The truth is right before your eyes, my ReiRei. Yes, come at me!” 

"Shut, **_up!_ **" 

It didn't make sense. Sariel's behaviour didn't make any sense! All this time she’d been acting like she knew Reimu, but _this!?_

Sariel began to fire back danmaku, but she still wore the familiar, gentle smile of Reimu's mother. Her danmaku was calculated, but forgiving. Like it was pushing Reimu to _think_ , not to _win_. 

Why? Why didn't Sariel want to win!? Why was she just floating there, with that smile on her face!? 

The images started flashing again. Memories of Reimu. Of Reimu training. Of Reimu playing hide and seek. Of the very days leading up to her mother's disappearance. 

"Stop! **_STOP!!_ ** " Reimu cried out, her eyes filling with tears. "Please! Haven't you done enough!? Leave us _alone_! My memories of her-!!" 

Reimu hurtled towards Sariel, skimming her relentless barrages, getting closer bit by bit. 

"But this is the most fun I've had in years, ReiRei!" Sariel pleaded. "I-I don't _want_ to just _give up_ anymore! Please, hear my danmaku, the way you've always communicated with yours!" 

"Wh-why are you so stubborn!?" Reimu cried, one of Sariel's great beams skimming her cheek. "Why couldn't you just let yourself die, like you originally wanted to!?" 

Reimu begun to rapidly thwack her yin-yang orb towards Sariel, like she did as a child. She threw ofuda and needles furiously. She threw sealing orbs from her gohei. 

All Sariel did was hang in the air, smiling, while desperately parrying Reimu's strikes, her beams merely giving Reimu's body gentle nudges to the side, throwing off her aim each and every time. 

Like this was just... sparring to her. _Training_. 

"You're doing so well, y-you're almost done!" Sariel said, her voice cracking. 

"Why!? Why do you know all these things only she knew!?" Reimu cried. 

"It's okay, it’s okay...!” Sariel reassured, her eyes spilling over once again. 

"Why do you have her _face!?_ " Reimu sobbed. 

"You're s-so _close_ , R-ReiRei...!" Sariel beamed, her throat just barely choking back her own cries. 

"Wh-why are you-..." Reimu bit her lip. 

For a moment, time felt like it had frozen. 

Sariel looked directly into Reimu's eyes with a kind, familiar smile. Tears ran down her face, and she held her arms open. 

And for once, Reimu didn't hate it. 

She couldn't. 

"Why are you so much like m-my..." 

Reimu’s memory of her childhood had always been hazy, but she could suddenly remember so many memories of her training years. Her final years with her mother. So _vividly_. 

And in every single memory, Reimu's mother had that familiar, gentle smile. 

The smile Sariel wore so naturally. 

Like it had _always been hers_. 

Tears streamed down Reimu's cheeks as she flew furiously towards Sariel, her fists and arms trembling. Gohei gripped so tightly it could splinter, ofuda crumpling into paper scraps, Reimu’s hands rushed to clutch in anguish at her own face as her sobs became uncontrollable.

And Sariel still held her arms out. 

"… M-mama...!" Reimu whimpered.

And still, Sariel held her arms out. 

"Aahh... aaahhhhahh... **_AAAAAAGGHH!!_** "

Reimu broke down, her shrieks filling the catacombs. 

_Thmp_. 

Gohei outstretched, Reimu smacked her body right into Sariel's. 

Her head was hot, her face soaked with tears, and the only thing she could hear anymore was her own screams and cries. 

But she felt arms wrap around her torso, and clutch at the backs of her clothes. 

Weapons dropped and plummeted from Reimu's hands. And Reimu hugged back. 

"M-mama..." Reimu sniffed into Sariel's shoulder. "Mama... you're m-my... 

_“You're my mama_...!" 

A gentle hand brushed Reimu’s hair. She felt Sariel's voluminous head of hair nodding comfortably against her own. She buried her nose in Sariel’s familiar scent. 

"I've got you, ReiRei... I've got you. 

“Thank you. _Thank you_. I’ll always cherish this chance, until the moment I die.” 

With a hug so tight that Sariel could have been winded, Reimu burst into tears. 

Her Fallen Temple collapsing around her, Sariel smiled with all her heart as she buried her lips and nose in Reimu’s hair. 

The mother and daughter fell to their knees, and wept candidly in each other's arms. 

* * *

"Y-you can't just do this to me--!" the white-haired woman's voice continued to rise. Her lip trembling and bitten. Her grape-coloured eyes seemingly aflame with red. "Y-you! You!! You promised your life was _mine_ ! You don't _get_ to do this!!" 

The hazel eyes of the red-white shrine maiden stared with resigned sorrow, into the bloodshot glare of the blue and white-clad woman stood over her. 

And the tips of the angel's mane brimmed with fury, revealing most of her ‘hair’ to have been a cloak of six, great white wings. Towering over her companion, the blue-white angel cut an imposing silhouette in the middle of the vista. 

Tired, yet overcome with fear of reality, fear of the future, the red-white finally resolved to keep her eyes fixed on those of her companion's. 

Even as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Even as her mouth trembled to speak. 

"That's one promise I still intend to keep," the red-white said. “No matter what happens.   
"My life _is_ yours. It always will be.   
“Now, until the moment I die." 

Her words dug the reality of the situation into Sariel’s heart, their weight driving it in deeper like a dagger. Sariel’s knees buckled. She stumbled helplessly into Lady Hakurei’s arms. 

"N-no," the word escaped Sariel's mouth as she clung to her beloved. "No... _no_. I don’t want your life like that I-... I can't do it. I can’t do that! I'm not ready, I’ll never be ready to take your life, _It's not_ ** _fair_**." 

Lady Hakurei wiped her own eyes and turned to the angel clung to her side. She snuggled up against her, she comfortingly stroked her cheek. 

"I still have a few years left, but I can feel time running out. I can _feel_ myself dying, Sariel. We _can't_ put this conversation off any longer. 

“I've already lived far longer than I should have thanks to a certain ‘angel of death’ so selflessly intervening in my _first_ death, you know?" Lady Hakurei giggled stiffly, staring Sariel dotingly in the eyes. 

“I wasn’t ready to lose you then,” Sariel muttered, “and I’m even less ready now.” 

“But _honestly_ , Sariel! Shrine maidens are supposed to be _killed_ by youkai in Makai, not _saved_ by them!” Lady Hakurei stammered a joke. 

She was _always_ joking at times like this. 

She had even joked the time she met her unfair, untimely end at the hands of a youkai here in Makai. That time Sariel so selfishly made a contract to save her, to extend her life just a _few years longer_. 

She always littered subjects with little observations and asides, sometimes weird, sometimes obvious. To Sariel, of all people she’d ever met there was no one else like her! _No one_ ! And now... _now...!!_

Sariel looked up at the red-white's strong, smiling face, tears in her eyes, a sullen scowl across her lips. 

"It's always humans who break my heart. Who leave me, when all I wanted was to protect them.” 

"You must be brave, sweetheart,” Lady Hakurei hummed. “We _always_ knew this day would come.” 

She always tried to sound funny and strong and optimistic, tried _so hard,_ but her voice was still cracking. And it _stung_. 

"Sariel, remember what we talked about? After you take my life, I want you to look after her until she's old enough to be the Hakurei shrine maiden herself. I’m fully serious about that; I always have been.” 

“I know, of course I remember but... living _as you_?” Sariel said anxiously. Her eyes fell guiltily to the ground as she hugged into Lady Hakurei’s warm arms. “Reimu’s mother being suddenly replaced by a monster in disguise? If she ever found out, she’d surely despise us.” 

“Being a fallen angel who can disguise herself as a human and deceive them has its perks!” Lady Hakurei joked again, facetiously. “... And I've always considered you to be her mother too, you know." 

“That’s not the point! It’s just... it’s cruel, isn’t it? Too cruel...” 

“I... know,” Lady Hakurei’s strong expression finally faltered. 

She tightly gripped back at Sariel’s hand, holding it against her elbow. She ran her thumb along Sariel’s knuckles. … Even when her words weren’t sensitive, at least her body language was. 

“I _know_ it’s horrible, but what choice do I have? Maybe I _am_ a terrible mother, I don’t know! But I’d _rather_ be hated by Reimu forever than leave her without a mother for most of her childhood. And there’s _no one_ I’d rather look after her than you, so _please_...!” 

Sariel clung harder to her beloved's arm. She took in a sharp, deep breath. 

"B-but our... other promise. The one promise I wanted us to keep more than _anything_!” Sariel lamented. _“Staying_ together. Being _with her together_. Like... a family. I was so looking forward to us all being a family...” 

Lady Hakurei brushed a lock of hair from Sariel’s eyes, forcing a smile at her. “But you know, even if she _did_ become old enough to understand the nuances of youkai-human relations-…" 

“-’Youkai are the enemies of humanity, but also not really’?” Sariel said sheepishly. 

“Yes, that,” Lady Hakurei giggled. “Even then, a Hakurei shrine maiden like me or my daughter living with a youkai like you would certainly raise more than a few eyebrows. 

“It was... a nice dream,” Lady Hakurei huffed, tilting her head wistfully. “But to be honest I... never truly believed my prolonged life could last that long.” 

"But _so soon_!?” Sariel objected, as if trying to convince her own power that it should work harder to keep her beloved alive. “ Reimu's still so young that I hardly even get to see you unless you find a babysitter as it is! I... don’t want to do this... it’s not fair.” 

"Yes, it's not fair... and if I could do _anything_ about it, I would. You _know_ I would." Lady Hakurei forced an apologetic smile. 

" _Ugh_ that _reminds_ me," Sariel scowled, holding onto Lady Hakurei more tightly. "I'm _really_ not looking forward to having to deal with that gap youkai more often either. She is not _at all_ fond of me." 

"I know... I'm so sorry, my love. I'm asking so many selfish things of you." 

"No...” Sariel sighed deeply. She shook her head slowly. “No." 

She already knew there was no other way. 

"It's not selfish at all. I don't want her to be alone either, it's just... _everything_ . It _hurts_ just thinking about how lonely I’ll be again without you. Every single time I look at myself in the mirror, or even at _her_ , I'm only going to... _see you_." 

"Look at it this way, there's _no one_ who knows me better than you do," Lady Hakurei said, leaning her head down. 

She kissed Sariel’s cheek, she kissed her other cheek, she left a brief, warm peck on her lips. 

"There’s truly no one I'd rather have pretending to be me, looking after _our_ daughter, than my beloved Sariel. As long as you watch over her, you’ll never be truly alone." 

Lady Hakurei leaned her forehead against Sariel's. Sariel felt for her fingers, wistfully interlacing them. 

“Saying something like that with a straight face is... too cruel...” Sariel whimpered. 

"But I’m serious. I want you to promise me again, okay?" 

"Y-yes," Sariel nodded weakly. “I know.” 

"You won't let our Reimu grow up alone? You'll always watch over her, even after I'm gone?" 

"I promise." 

"No I want to hear you _say it_ ," Lady Hakurei held Sariel's cheeks in her hands again. She forced a weak smile at her face. Tears welled in her own eyes again. It stung. "The same way I always tell you. Please?" 

“I-I-…" It _stung_. 

Sariel cupped her lover's hand against hers. She could no longer hold back her tears. She ran her own thumb along Lady Hakurei's warm hand, nuzzled her nose... As she indulged in the warmth that was destined to be cruelly _ripped away_ from her, her stomach began to tremble forlorn, heartbroken sobs. 

"Please. S-Sariel, _please!_ " Lady Hakurei muttered through her own tears. “I can’t stand not knowing what’ll happen to her after I’m gone and-” 

"I promise. I promise! 

I’ll look after and watch our Reimu; now, until the moment I die. _I promise_." 

Sariel could just barely force a smile. She nodded weakly at her lover's forehead. 

Lady Hakurei nodded back. 

"Th-thank you... thank you so, so much. You’re definitely going to be the best mother Reimu’s ever had.” 

“P-please don’t say that at a time like this?” Sariel bemoaned in disbelief. “Her actual mother is right in front of me, you know!” 

Lady Hakurei pulled back and held her angel by the shoulders. She smiled. A genuine, ardent smile shone behind her tears. A smile that poor, young Reimu may completely forget someday. 

“You always were such a crier, my love.” 

“H-honestly! Don’t say _that,_ either!” Sariel laughed through her tears. “Why _wouldn’t_ I cry!? Your s-sense of humour is the worst!” 

Reimu Hakurei’s mothers, a shrine maiden and a youkai, lay together on the bank outside the Fallen Temple. A private picnic left mostly untouched, under the brilliant glow of Vina’s sublime sky. 

Haunted by this unknown future, unshakeable fears that their beloved daughter might someday end up without any family... they wept candidly in each other's arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "My Mother" was written with a lot of tiny hints weaved through the story.  
> It was written so you'd notice a lot of things on a second read that you probably didn't notice the first time.  
> You should consider giving the whole thing a re-read, or at least the flashback chapters. You'll notice a lot of interesting things! 
> 
> This chapter was intense, in a lot of ways. I put my all into it. It was tough, but if this turned out as well as I think I did, I feel like I can be really proud of this whole story. 
> 
> The final scene between Reimu and Sariel in this chapter was the very first scene I saw vividly in my head, the idea that made me want to start writing this back in February. My excitement to write this scene, to show other people this scene, has been motivating me this whole time. 
> 
> Is it a wild idea? Maybe a little. But if I pulled it off, it might have even made some of you cry. Like I did while writing it. 
> 
> Sariel is the woman who trained Reimu, who lived as Reimu's mother for half of Reimu's childhood.  
> The "Lady Hakurei" we see in most of this story's flashbacks was Sariel all along. 
> 
> I'll talk more about my inspiration for this story when I publish the epilogue in two weeks. For now I'll let you all process what just happened. 
> 
> If you have any comments or reactions at all, I'd love to see your thoughts in the comments.  
> Oh and, tell me if you cried <3 
> 
> \------------  
> Glossary: 
> 
> Evil Eye - In Judaic mythology, Evil Eyes are curses that can be caused by a malevolent glare. In Touhou, Evil Eyes are a type of youkai seen in the PC98 era.  
> ofuda - a charm-inscribed strip of paper used in Shintoism, as amulets or talisman for purification or exorcism.


	14. reprise ~ duo

A woman clad in blue and white, hair as silky black as a starless sky, sat in the solitude of a dim, warm room. And she sighed to herself. 

She pulled up one specific tatami mat, ignoring the others around it. Then, like it was second-nature, she swiftly removed a loose wooden board from the flooring and lifted a dusty, old box from a small space underneath. 

She brushed a hand across the box, and dust scattered silently as she opened up the lid. A wistful smile crept to her cheeks as she placed a small, red ribbon inside. 

Then she set the box aside, kneeled down, and started to make her futon. 

What a day... 

The futon was quickly fixed up, but something _still_ felt off. She felt for a strand of her hair, and her eyes widened at its dark colour. She scrunched her face in irritation. What a curious force of habit 

So, by another force of habit, she turned to the mirror. 

Sariel smiled at her hair, just how _she_ had always liked it. But with these clothes? It just didn't fit at all! Sariel bit restlessly down on her bottom lip and edged, curiously, closer to the mirror. 

She ran a thumb along the reflection of her own face, and a single, warm tear rolled down her cheek. 

Her hair slowly faded from silky black to fluffy white, hazel eyes turning back to their usual grape colour. 

"ReiRei's right, you know," she said. "Even when I tried my hardest to... look like you, I never _could_ smile quite like you did. I'm amazed it fooled Rinnosuke, to be quite honest." 

_Gods_ , how Sariel missed her. 

She shook her head, fighting that intrusive melancholic feeling, and turned back to the box. A fond smile relaxed on her face as she ran a finger along the old, fake gohei. Goodness, how anxious she was when Rinnosuke touched it! She was _mortified_! Why, surely only a youkai disguised as a shrine maiden would have any use for such a thing! 

Sariel chuckled weakly to herself, then found her eyes drifting to the room’s storage cupboards. How many times had she nagged Reimu to not go through her things during hide and seek, she wondered? It was one of many reasons she’d started to keep her most private possessions under the floorboards. 

… Most private possessions... oh... oh no. No, no no! 

That... photo. The _one_ photograph she had of the two of them together, it wasn’t here! Where could it-- 

Ah... Sariel’s posture slumped. Left at the temple, perhaps. 

It’s fine. It’s okay! 

Taking a deep, shaky breath to try and calm herself, Sariel continued to rummage through her old box. Something thin and sharp pricked against her finger. 

Her heart skipped a beat. 

… As she suspected, another photograph. Sariel pulled it from the box, and the moment she saw it her other hand rushed to cup her mouth. She let out an emotional whimper. 

It was a photo of _her_. Her bright, beautiful smile. So full of life... fondness... optimism. 

This was... the last photo taken. Before her death. 

“ _You always were such a crier, my love._ ” 

The words resounded clearly in Sariel’s head, as if spoken to her this very moment. She felt tears trickle down her cheeks, onto her hand. 

She could still feel it so vividly. The feeling of Lady Hakurei’s warm hand on her cheek, on the day their contract over her life finally ran out of time. 

_“And I loved that about you, you know that? Always so compassionate, even after everything you've been through... I hope you won’t forget how important it is to cry sometimes.”_

The feeling of Lady Hakurei’s warmth fading, that day she entered the Fallen Temple and never left. 

_“But if you take anything from your time with me... my angel. My Sariel. Please never, ever forget your incredible bravery. The bravery to move forward, no matter what happens.”_

The day Lady Hakurei took her warmth from Sariel’s cheek for the final time. 

_“Be brave... Be good... And tell_ _Reimu_ _that I… that mama loves her, so much. So much._

_"I’ll... see you later.”_

The day she... died. In Sariel’s arms. 

Sariel felt her arms wrap around and hug her own stomach. She felt them clutch tightly. Her stomach hurt. Her guts tied themselves in knots. Her breaths stuttered, spasmed. And as quiet weeps spilled from her chest, tears continued to well and spill from her eyes. 

Sariel scrunched her eyes shut and tumbled down to _her_ futon. She wrapped _her_ pillow in her arms and held it close, burying her face in it. She took in the familiar, homely, safe scent of _her_ pillow, _her_ futon, _her_ old room around her, and she sobbed. 

"I miss you so much...” her voice cracked into a squeak. “I miss you so, _so much_ , my love...! Not a single day goes by that I don't wish you were still _here_...!!" 

Everything felt so weird. Everything was scary. In a way, everything that could _begin_ now, was the scariest thing she had ever faced. 

"... But, I’ll be brave. Maybe... I'll be okay." 

Because... it was also the most _exciting_ thing she had ever faced. 

A thin beam of light snuck into the room, accompanied by the sound of wood sliding through its frame. 

"Mama...? You ready to go?" 

Sariel flinched at her voice, her white hair flushing quickly to black by sheer reflex. 

She wiped her eyes, neatened out her futon, and stood up. 

"I'm ready," she said. 


	15. Epilogue - My Mother

Considering the situation, Reimu felt surprisingly calm. 

She adjusted her ribbon in front of her living room mirror. Absolutely second nature to her by now, but admittedly yes, she did put a little more care into it than usual today. 

It was while she was preparing the larger table in the middle of the living area, that her mind pricked slightly - a familiar presence. 

Ugh. There was only one person _that_ could be. 

"Why... did you never tell me?" Reimu asked. 

"You never asked," Yukari's voice replied. 

Reimu spun around. “ _Don’t_ give me that crap!” she threw her arm aside. 

Her gaze immediately met Yukari's through a thin gap, and she scowled resentfully at her. 

Yukari, huh. She showed her face quicker than Reimu expected. 

On top of being a half-baked ‘mentor’ figure, she was a youkai with eyes on everything. A finger in every pie. A woman who kept ‘balance’ in her own way, allegedly pulling Gensokyo's strings from the shadows. Of _course_ she had known what happened with Reimu’s mother and Sariel. 

In fact, judging from Sariel’s bitterness towards Yukari... 

Slowly, sheepishly, Yukari emerged. Her gap spilled her onto her knees, until she was sat politely at the table. 

Without another word spoken, Reimu sat at the table opposite her. She kept a glare trained on the woman. 

The two locked eyes in silence for a good couple of minutes. Yukari must have been waiting for some kind of ice-breaking moment, but Reimu's scowl was so sincere in its frustration that it was Yukari who ultimately caved. 

Yukari slumped back onto her hand and rolled her eyes with an 'ugh'. A slight smirk actually tugged at the corners of Reimu's lips; a little 'I won' moment. 

Resting her cheek to her hand and leaning on the low table, Yukari took a few moments to think. She stared out the shrine's open side-doors, then finally responded. 

"A youkai stealing the appearance of a Hakurei... living as a Hakurei... it made me sick,” she muttered, almost bitterly. 

“I was really quite _grateful_ when you sealed her away,” Yukari’s golden eyes flickered emptily, veiling the pettiness of her words. Reimu's glare remained steadfast in resentment. 

"It didn't affect your precious Gensokyo balance, so what's it matter to you?" 

"It mattered to me on a purely personal level. I mean, a brilliant, _unique_ youkai like Sariel, living and hiding as a _holy_ _human_ . Does it not make your _skin crawl?_ " 

" _You_ of all people have no right to complain about things that make skin crawl," Reimu said frankly. 

"Aw!" Yukari tutted, a facetious smirk reappearing on her face. "But I still _allowed it_ , didn't I?” 

It was _obviously_ not as simple as that. Reimu kept her unamused glare fixed on Yukari, and the youkai quickly yielded with an innocent chuckle. 

“ _Onn_ the conditionn ...” Yukari hummed, gently shutting her eyes, “...that _Sariel_ be the one to teach you unconditional fear and hatred of youkai. That included my _gentle suggestion_ that she be responsible for your first incident, once you were old enough to be the shrine maiden yourself." 

"You _... you_ tore my _family apart_!!” Reimu snapped. “I should have _known_ your meddling had something to do with this, insufferable gap woman!” 

Reimu grimaced her eyes shut and crossed her arms. 

But... her frown was more irritated than furious. 

Yukari had _always_ managed to get under her skin, but at the same time? The older Reimu got, the less surprising Yukari's _inhumanity_ was anymore. It wasn’t worth it. 

"… Did you... _really_ not feel _anything_ for them?" Reimu asked. 

"Of course I did." 

Reimu blinked, then blinked again. She glared into Yukari, noticing her smile flicker and waver. A hint of sincerity? Before dusting over it, playfully huffing a lock of hair from her face. 

"I had the utmost respect for your mother as a Hakurei, and I found Sariel appropriately fascinating as an ancient youkai. Why, such a marvel would have been most welcome in Gensokyo, had circumstances been different...! So no, I did not relish in nor envy their predicament,” Yukari mused, absentmindedly opening up her ornate hand-fan. 

“What I did _not_ appreciate-” Yukari added, _snapping_ her fan shut with an irritated sigh, “-was how close they became. _And_ how difficult it was becoming to cover that emotional angel’s tracks." 

Reimu’s face scrunched. "Her... tracks?" 

"Silly girl," Yukari tilted her head, offering Reimu an 'innocent' smile. "How long did you think such a facade could last? With all eyes in Gensokyo always so focused on the Hakurei, and your own spirituality awakening... well; it was only a matter of _time_ until one of her associates discovered she was not who she seemed. 

“Or worse, _you_ discovered she was not who she seemed _._ " 

Reimu's steadfast glare slipped, and she fell into deep thought for a few moments. 

She near-mirrored Yukari's pose, leaning her cheek into her hand and staring out of the shrine's side-doors. 

"I... would have been okay with it?" Reimu said, as if trying to convince herself. 

"Come now, the Hakurei finding out a youkai had been disguised as her birth mother for half her childhood?” Yukari scoffed. “ _Someone_ would have died. Either that, or I may have deemed you _far_ too lenient on youkai from _far_ too early an age." 

Well this was quickly starting to sound like another lecture. Reimu couldn’t help but roll her eyes as Yukari continued. 

"Of course with such a pivotal new era in Gensokyo so rapidly approaching, these were not risks I was willing to take. Your mother understood and, though she abhorred my moaning, even Sariel was ultimately unwilling to take the risk. She _knew_ I was right; that Gensokyo was not _ready_ for a Hakurei who loved a youkai. 

“So you see... destroying your shrine and making sure you hated youkai? She made the right call by me.” 

"And what about what was right for _her?_ Or _me?_ And what about _now_?" Reimu asked blankly, brushing Yukari’s explanation aside. She was now slumping her mouth into her palm, eyes lidding, entirely unimpressed. "Stop with the lecturing, _you're_ not my family. Can you even _comprehend_ how badly she wanted a family after everything she’s been through? Everything she’s _lost_!?" 

There was a pause. 

Even with her eyes slightly welled in frustration, Reimu kept her gaze locked sharp on Yukari’s. 

And, as if somehow endeared, the monster tilted her head. 

Yukari sighed and collected her own slump from the table. Finally sitting tall, she shut her eyes and smiled gently at her counterpart. 

"Indeed, I will admit that trying to separate the two of you _again_ may prove more trouble than it is worth," she chuckled. 

"I wonder... if Gensokyo is ready for a youkai to live at the Hakurei Shrine? 

“What do you think, Reimu?" 

Faintly, Reimu heard the sound of commotion from the shrine grounds. And she smiled. 

Reimu flickered a smirk towards Yukari and said, "No one needs to know she's a youkai. You of all people know how many youkai have been living among humans in disguise all this time, right?" 

Then, Reimu stood up and stepped towards the door. "Now, are you gonna leave before my _actual_ guests arrive?" 

"Who you talkin' to, Reimu?" 

Reimu’s heart lifted. 

Before a smile could even spread on her face, a familiar silhouette outlined with a tall pointy hat leapt through the doorway and tackled Reimu into a hug. 

Reimu caught Marisa without missing a beat, tightly wrapping her arms around her. And... for a few moments, Reimu allowed herself to just breathe in, deeply. 

In a way, Reimu felt like she hadn’t seen Marisa in... _ages_. 

She _finally_ had the clarity and peace of mind to let her head overflow with realisation, _appreciation_ , for just how much Marisa had done for her throughout this whole thing. For being there for her through her months of nightmares. For staying by her side when she lost sight of herself. For putting up with her when she was being ungrateful, or a grump, heck, for _supporting_ Reimu all those times she selfishly followed her heart and made everyone worry! 

“Marisa...” Reimu muttered under her breath. 

Just... for everything. 

A short few moments felt like a short eternity as Reimu’s mind swam with feelings of relief and gratitude at seeing Marisa again now that everything was over. 

Then, when she finally had the mental fortitude to let go, she looked back and- yeah, Yukari was gone. 

“Seriously who were you talkin’ to? Don’t leave us hangin’,” Marisa replied. She sounded as easy-going as ever, but her grip on Reimu tightened anyway. 

Yeah... there would be plenty of time to make it up to Marisa later. Today though, Reimu wanted everyone to relax and smile together again. 

"It _was_ Yukari, but now it's you," Reimu said with a wide, warm smile. "Thanks for coming, guys." 

"Of course," said Alice, who had been just behind Marisa. "Pardon me, coming through." 

"O-oh-" Reimu stuttered. She had been suddenly scooped into a double magician cuddle, both Marisa and Alice squeezing her from either side. To cap it all off, they both planted protective kisses on the top of her head. 

"Did you sleep all right last night, Reimu?" Alice asked with an earnest tenderness. "I haven't been able to stop worrying about you." 

"She means _thinkin'_ about you !" Marisa interjected. "She wasn't worried! She _definitely_ wasn't up all-night frettin’! Oh yeah, have you eaten properly!?" 

"Really, guys," Reimu couldn’t help but giggle, almost a little overwhelmed. "I'm fine." 

At least... she was going to be. Thanks in large part to them. 

“But... thank you both. Really.” 

Marisa and Alice exchanged grins and giggles. They, of course, took this as an invitation to be even more _ruthlessly_ affectionate. 

" _Oh_ , and mother sends all her well-wishes too, Reimu." Alice continued to fuss and dote, still hugging Reimu with no sign of letting go. "She says you really must visit soon under better circumstances." 

"Oh yeah and Elis stalked me all the way back ta Pandaemonium after Vina started slowin’ down!” Marisa’s voice escalated excitedly; _way_ too close to Reimu’s ear. “Weird as hell, anyway you didn't get hurt by the temple collapsin’ or anythin' right!?" 

"I'm-..." came another familiar voice, drifting in from outside, "-not interrupting anything, am I?" 

"You're _NOT_." Reimu insisted, now quite red indeed - but absolutely struggling to keep a smile from her face. 

Marisa turned to the voice, beaming up from her messy hug-hair, "Oh, hey Youmu!" 

Youmu, who was stopped halfway up the steps to pet a snoozing Aunn’s fluffy coat of hair, beamed up at the three of them. _Finally_ letting go of Reimu, Marisa and Alice both gave friendly waves to the final guest. 

Or at least, Youmu was _meant_ to be the final guest. 

A maid dressed in red stepped politely through the threshold, frizzy blonde hair breezing behind her. After invasively darting her eyes around, she shot Reimu a smirk. 

"Not bad, I was honestly expecting your home to be in a far worse state than this," Yumeko said. 

"Oh yes, Reimu," Alice said sweetly, trying to sound conciliatory for her thorny sister. "Yumeko decided she’d like to come along as well. I hope you don't mind." 

"Huh," Reimu shrugged, actually finding it easier and easier to relax. "I'll take it as a compliment I guess, thanks Yumeko." 

Looking over the already lively group with a tired, comfortable smile, Reimu gave Marisa and Alice affectionate pats on the back before turning towards the kitchen. 

“Sit wherever you like; tea will be ready any minute now.” 

Yumeko pouted slightly as she politely removed her shoes. "I was expecting more of a reaction," she mumbled to Youmu, sounding almost disappointed. 

Youmu giggled as she entered the living area alongside her. "An old foe casually turning up at Reimu's shrine? It’s probably the least surprising thing in the world to her by now." 

Within minutes, the whole group was sitting around the table drinking tea together. 

Pleasant chatter, irritated banter, the works. It did wonders to take some of the edge off of the tense mood that Hakurei Shrine had been caked in all day. 

Well, Reimu figured; now was as good a time as any to see if the guest of honour was ready. 

She got up, and with an understanding nod to everyone, headed over to the spare bedroom. 

At least she _called_ it the spare bedroom. It actually used to be her mother’s, and now... well. 

Reimu supposed she’d wait and see. 

"Mama...? You ready to go?" 

Reimu peeked her eyes into the dim room, to see Sariel wiping her eyes as her hair faded from black to white. 

For a brief moment, Reimu’s guts churned discomfortingly at the familiar sight. Like she’d been thrown back to her childhood and dragged back to the present again in an instant. 

At the same time though, Sariel's emotional distress was almost a little... relieving, to Reimu? It made things feel all the more... _real_. All of this can’t have been easy on Sariel either. 

Hesitant to interrupt Sariel's little moment with her old room, Reimu hung back by the door and awkwardly shuffled her sock against the tatami. 

Before long though, she heard a creak from the room followed by Sariel's voice, "I'm ready." 

Reimu took a small breath in, then stepped into the room just as Sariel was walking towards the sliding door. 

The two stopped still, and exchanged quiet smiles. 

After a stiff moment though, Reimu rammed Sariel into a hug. She felt Sariel's hand gently stroking her hair, and she hugged a little tighter. 

"Oh goodness... are you all right, ReiRei?" 

"Mm," Reimu nodded. "That should be my question. This must be so strange for you..." 

" _And_ you, surely?" Sariel chuckled weakly. 

Sariel was warm... and the way Sariel held her was unlike the way anyone else had ever done. Reimu nuzzled her nose into Sariel's shoulder slightly. 

Reimu felt herself squeezed caringly into Sariel's embrace, and a kiss placed on the top of her head. 

"ReiRei...” Sariel mumbled. “I love you... my treasured ReiRei..." 

Reimu forced a strong smile. Her grip on Sariel tightened again as she opened her mouth to reply. 

"I-I... I l-love you, too." 

Somewhat forced, yes, but _important_ to her. It was difficult for Reimu to fully accept and believe just yet but she knew, logically, that she loved Sariel. 

And she was blushing from embarrassment _far harder_ than she had in living memory. 

But she was happy. 

It was really... _her_. 

It really, _really was_ her. Sariel really was the woman who raised and trained Reimu for the second half of her childhood, the times she still had memories of! 

As difficult as this all was to process, there was... no doubt in Reimu's heart. It was obvious that Sariel found it easier to be her mother than she ever did pretending to be Reimu’s ‘nemesis’ in her first incident. 

"You don't have to say it if you're not ready to, you know," Sariel forced her own smile. “I caused you such trauma as a child, it’s understandable if you need time to-” 

“No I _want_ this,” Reimu interrupted. There was a brief, awkward pause before she continued. “It’s... not your fault, you know? You never _wanted_ to hurt me. I know that. 

“We have... time, don’t we? To finally heal from that horrible incident. _Together._ ” 

Sariel tilted her head. 

For once, she would try not to argue with happiness. 

“All right... but if it feels strange you don’t have to, all right?” she said, beaming that familiar, kind smile, and giving Reimu a _slightly_ condescending pat on the head. Reimu figured that, for now at least, she'd make an exception to allow headpats from Sariel. 

Reimu gently shoved the door shut, filling the room with dark again and hiding her shy smile. "You don't have to meet my friends today yet either, if you're not ready," she said quietly. 

Sariel shook her head, her white hair appearing to glow even in the dark. " ** _I_** want this. They helped you so much the other day, didn't they? I owe them, too." 

Reimu nodded but, distracted for a moment, couldn't get enough of how Sariel's curled wings made it look like she had a whole cape of hair. 

It was just... really cool. 

She beamed an excited, rosy-red smile at Sariel for a moment, then turned towards the door again with a giggle. 

"Even if they ask weird questions, like 'if you're Reimu's mom, does that mean Reimu is half-youkai'?” 

Sariel chuckled and smiled fondly at Reimu. “Well that one’s easy. I just tell them I’m not _actually_ your mother.” 

Then Reimu span around to Sariel _again,_ with a look of worry and confusion on her face. 

Sariel laughed a little louder before smiling gently. 

“What’s that face for? The great thing about being a Fallen Angel abandoned by her God is that I can do blasphemous things like induce virgin pregnancies without anyone really caring about it. 

Reimu pouted, the dark still hiding her blush. “Th-that sounds cool and all, but you’re the person my mom wanted to spend her life with, right? And you raised me for a good chunk of my childhood...” 

Sariel blinked and tilted her head in confusion at Reimu. “Yes...?” 

“I’m saying-!!” Red-faced, Reimu asserted her gaze and kept pouting. “I don’t _want_ you to say you’re not my real mom, okay? You’re both my real moms, in every way that matters.” 

“Oh!” Sariel said. 

Her expression softened. "I... understand. In that case, I _am_ your real mother,” she said, smiling adoringly at Reimu. “Thank you, ReiRei.” 

Reimu sighed and awkwardly scratched the back of her head, before shyly smiling up at Sariel. 

Still though... of _course_ they would have thought of something like that. Reimu dealt with so many ‘youkai shrine maiden’ rumours in her life, so she was retrospectively relieved that her moms were such a smart couple of ladies. 

Reimu thought to the photo of the two of them, the one she saw back at the Fallen Temple, and grinned. Then, she headed to slide the door open again. 

"Well... shall we?" Reimu asked, holding her hand out. 

Sariel accepted, and as she followed Reimu out of the dark her flowing white hair finally caught the light. 

Finally shimmering beneath the real light of day, Reimu couldn't help but notice it was actually more... light blue, than white. 

And it was beautiful, like she’d never really looked at it before. Like that blank-faced white-haired angel from her nightmares wasn’t who Sariel was at all. 

Suddenly, Reimu couldn't wait to find out more and _more_ about her new, old family member. The person she was once so close to, the youkai who had this whole other life of centuries and centuries of history and experiences to share, and Reimu still only knew the very _tip_! 

Optimistic and excited, stomach bubbling with butterflies, Reimu led Sariel by hand back to the main room with a genuine smile across her face. 

Marisa, Alice, Youmu and Yumeko all stopped talking as the newcomer entered the room. All eyes fixed on the both of them, as they stood at the head of the table. 

"Everyone..." Reimu said. She looked to Sariel with a nervous smile. 

Sariel squeezed Reimu’s hand, and beamed a familiar smile. A smile Reimu had always known so well. A smile that set Reimu’s heart at ease in a way that perhaps no other smile ever could. 

"I'd like you to meet my mother." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final line in this chapter was one of the first things I thought of when I came up with this concept. Once again, a little idea in my head becomes something much bigger. 
> 
> Thank you so much to anyone who read it all the way through to the end. It’s such a strange idea for a story, you know? And yet it got so much more attention than I could have imagined! I’m so, so grateful for all the support, all the kudos, and each and every comment and thought. I’m really blown away. 
> 
> There’s a lot I want to say about this fic, but I’ll start with some quickfire points: 
> 
> 1) Some things, like Vina’s fate for example, were left open-ended intentionally. I fully intend to write more stories in this canon in the future, look forward to it! Maybe even leave a comment with what you’d like to see? 
> 
> 2) I know I said Yukari wasn’t important, but that was more because I didn’t want people to expect a lot of appearances from her... ^^; 
> 
> 3) The entire idea for this fic, and a huge angle of Sariel’s character, sprung into my mind from a single thought. 
> 
> So to come clean: this fic was inspired by Toriel and Asriel from Undertale. They act as the protagonist’s found-family figures and their designs are *very noticeably* inspired by Sariel’s. I was thinking about how Sariel inspired their designs. 
> 
> More specifically, this entire story blossomed in my mind from this single thought: 
> 
> “what if Toriel and Asriel’s character and story arcs were *ALSO* inspired by Sariel?” 
> 
> Almost everything about Sariel and Vina were reverse-engineered. 
> 
> I wrote her as family that Reimu had lost, I made her a youkai counterpart to Reimu’s mother due to her blue robes and light hair, and I tried to write her the way ZUN writes final bosses for most Touhou games. A sad backstory based on mythology, and a confrontation with Reimu that gives her a fresh start. 
> 
> So HRTP’s lore that we never got became “forgotten” to Touhou canon. As the final boss of the first Touhou game, I liked the idea that Sariel would be a leftover from the previous Hakurei’s legacy, while passing the torch over to Reimu – but the story of why was lost until now. I guess I made HRTP into a time capsule story, with the second half finally being told and Sariel finally getting her happy ending. 
> 
> And I think she deserves it, after all she’s been through. 
> 
> \---SPECIAL THANKS---  
> I really meant to bring this up much earlier, but the end eventually felt like the best place to. 
> 
> \- A massive thanks to @s_reimun on Twitter for being such a generous, reliable and supportive beta-reader. Thanks to them, the story is way tighter than it would have been otherwise and I couldn’t be more grateful. 
> 
> \- A huge thank you as well to @StarWarrior776 on Twitter for all his help proofreading spelling and grammar. He caught so many typos that me and my beta couldn’t catch it’s kind of amazing. 
> 
> \- A general thank you for all the support, especially from my friends, people who signal-boosted me on Twitter, shared their thoughts on enjoying it, helped me get Sariel some more fans, everything like that. 
> 
> I’m really so grateful for all of this, especially since it’s been such a hard year. 
> 
> \---WHAT’S NEXT---
> 
> I’ll be taking a short break to prevent burnout, but I want to write some one-shots next. Maybe Touhou, maybe Pokémon, and then start work on another Touhou story soon. I still have so many ideas... 
> 
> Oh, and...  
> Maybe a little surprise related to this fic. Wait and see! 
> 
> Thank you all again, and I’ll hopefully see you next time.


End file.
